Catalans Dragons coach Steve McNamara fumes over officiating issues after St Helens defeat

Catalans Dragons boss Steve McNamara vented his frustrations at the communication issues experienced by the officials during his side’s home defeat to St Helens on Saturday evening.

The Dragons were beaten 14-13 in Perpignan on Saturday evening after Saints captain Jonny Lomax kicked two drop goals, sandwiching a one-pointer of his own from Catalans playmaker Luke Keary.

Those three drop goals all came in the final eight minutes following a pulsating affair hampered by long delays where key decisions were concerned, namely a ‘no try’ decision which went against Catalans having been overturned by the video referee.

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Catalans Dragons coach Steve McNamara fumes over officiating issues after St Helens defeat

Veteran ex-England international Elliott Whitehead was the man denied a try following a lengthy stoppage, with Tevita pangai Jr. eventually judged to have been tackled with his ball carrying arm hitting the floor earlier in the play.

On-field referee Jack Smith lost communication with his colleagues during the second half, which didn’t help matters.

And speaking to Sky Sports post-match, McNamara expressed his annoyance, saying: “We’ve got to get it right.

“There are too many stoppages and the referees with the microphones tonight not having communication, I know that can happen, but it’s frustrating.

“I don’t know how many times they watched our disallowed try… it was given as a try, and then it seems as if they watched it 20 times until they decided it wasn’t a try.

“You have to be really definite and quicker on those types of decisions, particularly on a night like tonight.”

Catalans sit 9th on the Super League ladder, with Saturday’s reverse their fourth loss of the campaign after just six rounds having won back-to-back games prior.

But after such a narrow defeat, McNamara remained upbeat, detailing: “I don’t know if you can see on the television back home, it’s ridiculously windy and for what the two teams put out there it was outstanding.

“It was a very good game, I thought we created plenty of opportunities in the first half and fought hard in the second.

“We had a try disallowed. It was just probably that lapse, in two minutes they scored two tries in the first 10 minutes of the game and that’s what really cost us, so we’re frustrated with that.”

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