- Broncos prevailed 20-12 in Battle of Brisbane
- Comes after shocking miss by sideline official
- Fans have taken to social media to vent their frustrations
Dolphins fans have had insult added to injury, with their loss to the Brisbane Broncos compounded by a shocking miss by the officials at Suncorp Stadium.
The Broncos fired to consign the Dolphins to a dreaded 0-4 start to the year in a 20-12 win at Suncorp Stadium.
And it came after the Dolphins were left reeling after a contentious call when Broncos winger Selwyn Cobbo tapped a ball back in play despite appearing out of bounds.
The sensational run of play saw the Broncos winger stop a Dolphins 40/20 attempt, batting the ball into the in-goal for fullback Reece Walsh.
However replays have shown that Cobbo had his foot on the sideline when he made contact with the ball.
The touch judge was right beside the play, but did not raise his flag, allowing play to continue.
Dolphins fans were left furious when the touch judge failed to see Selwyn Cobbo put his foot on the sideline while batting the ball back in-field
To add insult to injury, Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs would go on to score a decisive try at the other end of the field
Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf is more focused on his side’s defensive lapses than referee errors
Minutes later, Brisbane Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs scored at the other end, leaving Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf frustrated but composed.
‘I missed that live,’ Woolf said.
‘But when those kinds of things happen, they make a difference.’
Fans were scathing of the touch judge for missing the blatant howler.
‘How does the touchie miss that FFS! He’s looking straight at it,’ one fan fumed.
Another asked: ‘Why do we even have touch judges?’
‘That clearly should of been called by the bunker and ref and once again the refs have wrecked it again,’ another angry supporter posted.
‘Stevie Wonder could have seen his foot on the line,’ quipped another.
The Dolphins remain in the hunt to sign Manly playmaker Daly Cherry-Evans for next season
Cherry-Evans was a Redcliffe junior and could entertain the idea of a homecoming as his career finale
However, Woolf refused to use the decision as an excuse for the loss.
‘What I was disappointed with was when the game went into its cycles, we tended to be the one that made the error first and backed it up with a couple of poor things defensively,’ he said.
The win leaves the Dolphins winless after four rounds, while the Broncos improve to 3-1 in the NRL season.
The pressure continues to mount on the Dolphins to find answers before their season slips away.
Meanwhile Woolf refused to buy into speculation the club is hunting the prized signature of Daly Cherry-Evans – a Redcliffe junior – after the Maroons half announced he would not be at Manly next season.
The Dolphins are one of many clubs reportedly interested in signing the veteran playmaker but Woolf made no further comment after the loss to the Broncos.
‘We have to worry about how we are going to get a win next week, not what could happen next year,’ he said.
‘I’ve made plenty of comments on that, I don’t need to comment any more and what hasn’t changed is there hasn’t been any discussions.
‘So lets worry about tonight and worry about how we are going to get better next week.’
Brisbane BroncosQueensland
