Cowboys coach Paul Green could not hide his anger as controversial rulings played a huge role for the second week in a row as his side went down 27-26 to Wests Tigers in golden point on Friday night.
After key decisions went against his team in last week's narrow loss to Manly, Green watched on in disbelief as a penalty try to Michael Chee Kam in the 73rd minute saw the Tigers retake the lead in a dramatic clash.
Benji Marshall ultimately proved the match-winner with an 84th minute field goal, but Green was seething over the penalty try.
Chee Kam copped an arm around the throat from Cowboys five-eighth Jordan Kahu when attempting a try-stopping tackle.
Match Highlights: Cowboys v Wests Tigers
Chee Kam dropped the ball over the line, with referee Ben Cummins ruling 'no try' but then consulting the bunker over whether it constituted a penalty try.
"The refs on field said that it wasn't, it should just be a penalty. The bunker completely overruled them and ruled that it was a penalty try. There's no way you can say it was a penalty try," Green said.
"There's no way you can guarantee he was going to score that.
"Five minutes before that, Jordan Kahu nearly gets his head taken off and the ref says. 'No, around the shoulder'.
"What my players deserve is to know why on the Tigers second try they don't go to the bunker. West Tigers knock it on in the air and they don't go to the bunker they just award the try. We deserve an explanation."
Asked if there should be consequences handed down to the officials, Green replied: "It's not my job to worry about consequences, that's their job but we're accountable for everything, clubs and players and coaches, they keep wanting a better product.
Bunker awards penalty try to Chee-Kam
"I think a lot of the decisions in the game have become greyer compared to what has happened in the past."
After copping a rev-up from Green at half-time the Cowboys were able to mount a comeback from 20-6 down and took the lead with 12 minutes to play.
"I was pretty direct about a few things. First thing we needed to fix up was our ball control and obviously we needed a bit more urgency in defence," Green said of his half-time address.
"We shouldn't have put ourselves in that position in the first place. What I say to them is that if you're relying on them [match officials] to get it right all the time, then you're going to be disappointed, so take them out of it and play better."
Coen Hess left the field early in the second half with a right leg injury, but Green said it didn't look serious.
“It's a knee injury. I don't think it's ACL which is good news so we’ll assess him through the week.”