Titans coach Josh Hannay was frustrated with a forward pass call that denied AJ Brimson a try, which he feels turned the match in his side’s 26-12 loss to the Broncos.

With the Broncos leading 12-6 in the second half, Lachlan Ilias put Brimson through to score a try that would have made it 12-12.

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But the referee called it back for a contentious forward pass that looked flat at worst and the Broncos went up the other end and scored to make it 16-6 and they never looked back.

“It’s really hard right now, plenty of effort in that first half,” Hannay said.

“I thought plenty of effort on the night. The 8-6 scoreline was probably fair at halftime. I thought we were doing a good job to stop them from getting their game on.

“They were doing a good job on us and then there’s probably a turning point there in the second half, which I’m sure I’m going to get asked about.

“I wish that moment was different because I think it would have probably been a game that went down to the wire and then we just dropped our heads and they smelled a bit of blood and put us away.”

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Josh Hannay and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.Source: FOX SPORTS

Hannay was clearly annoyed with the momentum swing that saw his team go from potentially pushing the Broncos for a win to chasing the game for the rest of the contest.

“It’s frustrating, it’s a hard game right and you’ve got to work hard to earn your opportunities and so when you earn your opportunity and then you ice it and it gets taken away, it’s frustrating,” Hannay said.

“It’s frustrating for the players, you’ve got to understand the psyche in that moment. It’s reward for effort and then it’s taken away from you and straight away you’ve got to try and brush that and we just didn’t.

“So I feel for the players in that regard, that’s a learn for us, that’s a work on to be able to overcome tough calls when they go against you.

“I’m disappointed for the spectacle of the game that it probably changed the trajectory of the game.”

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While careful not to suggest the forward pass call decided the result, Hannay felt it changed the complexion of the game.

“I don’t know about the outcome but certainly a different last 20 minutes,” Hannay said.

“I certainly know what we would have got out of getting that awarded. It would have got the crowd into the game and I thought we were playing well enough.

“We were working hard enough to be in it with 20 to go and then it was taken away.”

Despite their fourth loss of the season, Hannay is still proud of his team and believes they are on the right track, but conceded they need to get more line ball calls go in their favour.

“I’m really proud of a lot of what they’re doing,” Hannay said.

“I think the effort and grit is obvious. I think anyone who’s watching this team play can see that and that is going to hold us in good stead over time.

“At the moment and I’ve been through this, there’s a lot of effort and hard work and preparation going in and there’s just not a lot going our way. There’s not a lot of bounces of the ball calls and that’s not a whinge.

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“That’s the game, right? It turns and it will turn because of how hard they’re working. They’re not out there looking for shortcuts or cheap options, they’re really trying to work through a contest every week and I’m really proud of them for that.

“They’re not going out there and looking for an easy kill. They’re doing it hard and they’re just not getting the reward at the moment.

“The challenge for them is to stay at it and for us to stay at it because I do know it will turn and when it does, we’ll go on a run.”

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Titans skipper Tino Fa’asumaleaui challenged his team and himself to take more ownership of their individual performances to close the gap and win more games.

“I think we’re improving every week,” Fa’asuamaleaui said.

“There’s still a lot of things that we need to work on, but still not happy with probably some of the things during the game, the little things that matter, that me personally, that I need to fix up.

“But there is a lot of grit and effort like the coach is saying and I think Moeaki Fotuaika has really set the tone for that, even when he came on today, he made some big plays.

“We’ll keep getting better as a pack. We’re still striving to become a powerhouse forward pack and we’re working really hard, so hopefully every week we can get better and improve on it and then we start to get our rewards.”