A simple toss of the coin provided a bizarre aftermath to an absorbing encounter between the Titans and Sharks on Monday night with Titans skipper Ryan James sensationally claiming that Cronulla opposite Wade Graham lied about whether he called heads or tails prior to golden point.
With the two teams unable to be separated at the end of 80 minutes the game went into golden point extra time but not before James was forced to toss the coin twice in centre field.
According to James, Graham called 'tails' at the first toss of the coin and when it came up 'heads' said that that was in fact what he had called.
Referee Gerard Sutton asked James to perform the coin toss again, Graham came up trumps and made the decision for the Sharks to receive.
With each set taking approximately one minute it is generally accepted that by receiving to start golden point you will get three uses of the football compared to the opposition's two and left James fuming at what had transpired.
"I won the coin toss and then had to toss it again because Wade Graham lied," James said in the post-match press conference.
"I flipped it, he called tails, it landed on heads and then the ref made me do it again."
Asked why he was required to toss the coin again, James responded: "Because Wade said he called heads, but he called tails.
"All he has to do is listen to his thing, go upstairs to the Bunker that comes in on every other play.
"I was frustrated at that."
When asked by NRL.com about his version of what transpired, Graham was very coy in his response.
"You'll have to check the tape on that one mate, I can't really remember. It was all happening," was all Graham would say.
The Sharks took full advantage of starting golden point with possession to dictate the opening five minutes of extra time.
A clever kick from James Maloney at the end of the first set helped to pin the Titans near their goal-line to start their first set and then with their next use of the football the Sharks were in position for the match-winner.
Maloney, who has 13 career field goals, hit the left upright four minutes into extra time but that was as close as either team came to securing both competition points.
"I just got the call to receive so you get that extra set so that's a massive play," James said of his coin toss redo. "Having to flip the coin twice at the end when you win it is ridiculous.
"It should have been us receiving but we had to kick off. We would have had an extra set and five minutes at a minute a set."
