Warriors coach Andrew Webster doubles down on referee criticism following RTS’ high shot

Warriors coach Andrew Webster has doubled down on his critique of the NRL’s match officials, suggesting his good nature makes the Warriors easy targets for referees to “pick on”.

Webster was incensed after Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton avoided the sin bin for making shoulder contact with the head of Warriors’ veteran Roger Tuivasa-Sheck during Friday’s game.

The shot forced Tuivasa-Sheck on to the sidelines and left the Warriors to reconfigure their backline, opening the door for the Bulldogs to take the lead and eventually win 34-18.

Webster was scathing in his assessment of the non-call after the game, saying the bunker referees “need to know what they’re doing. I actually don’t think they know”.

“I’m struggling to understand how a shoulder can go into Roger’s head and the bunker’s got ages to see it in a critical time of the game,” Webster said.

“We’ve got to protect our players and I just don’t see the consistency one little bit around that.”

NRL head of football Graham Annesley has since described the decision not to advise the on-field referee to sin-bin Crichton as a “serious error of judgment” from bunker official Liam Kennedy.

Kennedy has been dropped from the bunker for round 26 and will also not oversee any games as head referee.

That will have been cold comfort for the Warriors, who had been hoping to celebrate Shaun Johnson’s final home game with victory against Canterbury. Webster was still frustrated by the refereeing on Wednesday.

“I stand by my assessment, 100 per cent,” he said.

A former protege of laconic Penrith coach Ivan Cleary, Webster has usually opted against criticising match officials in two years leading the Warriors.

He suggested his good nature may have contributed to the 14th-placed Warriors missing out on calls during games.

“I’m very careful of not being a victim. There’s so many things I’ve got to do better as a coach, I’ve got to prepare them better,” he said.

“But I feel like we’re easy to pick on. ‘They don’t blow up, ‘Webby’ doesn’t say anything, he sits there all year and says it’s okay’. I don’t want the players to use this stuff as excuses.

“Other coaches apply pressure and I don’t want to be that guy. But that’s just how I feel. But why we didn’t make the playoffs is because we didn’t play good footy.”

The NRL was forced to defend itself against claims of inconsistency in its policing of high tackles following a spate of shots in round 25.

While Crichton avoided the sin bin before receiving a one-game suspension, Manly’s Haumole Olakau’atu was sin-binned for a high tackle on Wests Tigers rookie Heath Mason and then escaped a ban from the match review committee.

Webster felt accountability would lead to consistency.

“I just think when a player makes a mistake, there’s accountability for the player. If I get things wrong, there’s accountability for me,” he said.

“If there’s accountability, these things will happen less. If there’s no accountability and no one explains it, all it does is lead to frustration.

“When there’s clarity, people can move on.”