Leigh coach bemoans ‘unacceptable’ try decision in Huddersfield defeat as frustrations aired
Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam
Leigh boss Adrian Lam was left frustrated by an ‘unacceptable’ decision to award Huddersfield’s first try in the Leopards’ defeat to the Giants on Friday night.
With St Helens well beaten at home by table-toppers Leeds Rhinos, play-off hopefuls Leigh could have mathematically cemented their top six spot had they avoided defeat at the Accu Stadium.
Owen Trout’s opening try saw the visitors hit the front foot, but Huddersfield have enjoyed a resurgence of late – and never looked back once Harry Rushton had crashed over to help them level things up on the half-hour mark.
The Giants had controlled much of the game until that point, with their first score coming on the back of a string of ‘six agains’: but Leopards head coach Lam was deeply unhappy the try got awarded.
‘I was frustrated with the try, it was never a try, not in a million years’
Leigh now have back-to-back home games to end the regular season against fellow play-off hopefuls Saints and Wakefield Trinity.
It looks almost certain the Leopards will make the play-offs for the fourth year running, but their chances of a top-four finish and a home tie in the eliminators now appear slim.
Post-match in Huddersfield, boss Lam fumed about a dummy run made by Fenton Rogers which replays showed prevented Robbie Mulhern from getting to try-scorer Rushton:
The Papua New Guinean said: “The two tries in the first half really hurt us and I thought Huddersfield were great, I want to state that.
“But I thought the first try, (Fenton) Rogers on (Robbie) Mulhern, I thought it was a no try.
“In games like this, you need those calls to be right, and I thought they got that wrong. That puts us under pressure and gives a lot of hope to Huddersfield.
“From there, they took advantage of that.”
Notably, Lam and his coaching staff changed positions at half-time – moving from a higher viewpoint at the Accu Stadium to one closer to the action.
That switch was fuelled by a desire to make his messages to the squad clearer, as he added: “I was frustrated with the try, it was never a try, not in a million years.
“For them to get that wrong in such an important game, and the timing of the game, it’s just unacceptable. It’s crucial.
“At half-time, I went down and I just needed to chill a little bit.”
