Akuila Uate is adamant he scored the controversial try that hauled Manly to an 18-14 win over his old club Newcastle on Friday, despite replays showing the flying winger appeared to knock the ball on over the line in the 58th minute.
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Uate's lucky try
Manly winger Akuila Uate got away with a try that wouldn't have been rewarded had the referees gone to the bunker.
The on-field officials awarded the four-pointer without double-checking with the NRL Bunker, despite Knights coach Nathan Brown claiming debut touch judge Jarrod Cole suggested to the referee that he refer the incident upstairs.
Newcastle captain Sione Mata'utia questioned the referee's decision not to go to the Bunker after the try was awarded, but it was to no avail.
Uate's second try proved the difference between the flat Sea Eagles and a plucky Newcastle outfit, who scored through hooker Danny Levi with less than six minutes on the clock as Nathan Brown's Knights threatened to earn their first away win in 20 starts.
"The disappointing one with the Choc [Uate] try was that the touch judge stands there and tells the referee to go and check the grounding. I don't know why the referee didn't check the grounding," coach Brown said.
"I've seen it, you watch the TV and you watch the touch judge. That's why he stood back and didn't go to the try line, he stood back and you watch him mouth it out he said just check the grounding.
"These are the things we've had a fair few [of] this year in heats of battles, a few tough ones but that's I suppose where we are and that's why we sit on the table where we are. Whether it's our fault sometimes or tough calls that we don't respond to.
"Refereeing's a tough job and I'm sure [referees' boss] Tony Archer will probably talk to him about it and he's probably going through similar stuff to what I'll go through. We're all doing our bit to try and get it right and sometimes you don't."
Uate had a different view, claiming his ninth try of the season was fair and square.
"I don't think it was a knock on, it looks loose but I still had my hands on the ball anyway, so I don't know what they're talking about," Uate said.
Just minutes earlier Uate was denied a try in the same right corner when he was adjudged to have interfered with Brendan Elliot as the pair tussled mid-air for a kick.
Manly coach Barrett felt that one should have been a try, but conceded Uate's second was a refereeing blunder.
"We were lucky. Some weeks you get them. I thought the try before it, when he ruled Choc interfered with the catch, I thought that was a fair try and the other one obviously he dropped it," Barrett said.
"It was a bit even-stevens. Normally they do [go to the Bunker]. We'll get one one day and we'll miss them the next. I understand Browny will be very frustrated by it."
In front of just 4,189 fans at Lottoland, the lowest NRL crowd of the season, Manly produced one of their flattest displays all year but still did enough to register an eighth win of the campaign.
Tom Trbojevic made a successful early return from an ankle injury and showed promising signs that would've likely been of interest to NSW coach Laurie Daley.
The Knights led 8-6 at half-time after another plucky showing in atrocious conditions, but again fell away in the second half.
"I'm probably spending more time worrying about how we can get over the line rather than just fall short," Brown said.
"We have so many first- and second-year players. They're certainly hanging in and competing really really hard, so I'm getting pretty proud of them in a lot of ways.
"We had certain individuals today that came up with some plays that helped us be under too much pressure.
"The key for us as a club is to work out what we could do better and not focus on what the referees are doing. There were reasons why we were down on our line today which we've got to get better at."
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