Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has suggested the officials were \u201c100 per cent wrong\u201d to not send Broncos fullback Reece Walsh off for what appeared to be a clear cut headbutt on Hudson Young, with the minor premiers now bracing for a short turnaround after a heartbreaking loss in extra-time.<\/p>\n
Walsh was sent to the sin bin for an incident in the 52nd minute when he appeared to lash out with his head, with Young also marched for instigating the melee in the wild 29-28 qualifying final.<\/p>\n
It was a chaotic few minutes with Brisbane reduced to 11 men after Pat Carrigan was sent to the sin bin for a high shot on Morgan Smithies, with the Broncos then roaring back from 16 points down to win it in the 94th minute after Walsh had tied things up with a penalty goal after the siren.<\/p>\n
Stuart didn\u2019t want to take away from the game of the year even though the Raiders thought they\u2019d won it twice, with Walsh tearing them apart on Sunday with a try, two assists and a couple of 40\/20s in a freakish display. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what I think about it,\u201d he said after the game. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve set a precedent now. You\u2019re allowed to headbutt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Joe (Canberra captain Joe Tapine) or Hudson had have used their head on Reece Walsh, what do you think would have happened to them?<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s not make it about that. It was a wonderful game of football between two very good footy teams with some outstanding footballers out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was an unbelievable spectacle for rugby league. They (the officials) got it 100 per cent wrong, but we shouldn\u2019t make it about that because it was an unbelievable promotion of the game itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fact Young got sent to the sin bin for simply celebrating a mistake was perhaps even more farcical than the call to allow Walsh to come back on the field, with Tapine at a loss to explain how his side was penalised. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe ref said he got in his face,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said \u2018you\u2019re allowed to celebrate a play because we just got a good play\u2019. I said \u2018if I was to celebrate a good play and someone punched me, am I in the wrong for celebrating?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how they got the penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n
The minor premiers thought they\u2019d earned the week off when Jamal Fogarty scored what appeared to be the winning try the set before Ben Hunt\u2019s field goal, only for the Bunker to spot a knock on.<\/p>\n
Stuart didn\u2019t want to comment on the decision, with the veteran coach now tasked with picking his side up mentally and physically ahead of a showdown with the Sharks on Saturday where the visitors will have an extra day of rest. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my job. I\u2019ve got to pick me up and I\u2019ve got to pick them, and we spoke about that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not hurting right now then you shouldn\u2019t be doing the job. We\u2019ll dust ourselves off and go again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be professional enough to have a day off tomorrow and then we\u2019ll get going again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll keep our same schedule but we certainly won\u2019t be doing a lot of work this week. If you need to be doing a lot of work at this time of year then you\u2019re probably doing something wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n