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James Graham lets rip after 'deplorable' bunker calls sends NRL fans into meltdown in Titans loss

The NRL world has called out the Bunker call that all but ended the hopes of the Titans.

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·4-min read

NRL great James Graham has blasted the bunker after a last-minute call favouring the Storm all but ended the Titans' chance of an epic comeback on Saturday night. The Storm looked like they were going to run away with an epic victory in round 10 with Ryan Papenhuyzen and Sua Fa'alogo showing some dazzling footy on their way to first-half tries.

However, the Storm were rocked when Papenhuyzen emerged after a tackle in pain having once again fractured a bone in his ankle. Fa'alogo also failed to finish the match with a leg-injury. And the Titans roared back into the contest with tries from winger Phil Sami in the 35th minute and fullback Brimson when he crashed over through the Storm defenders. A penalty then made it 20-20.

Nick Meaney drops the ball and NRL great James Graham.
NRL great James Graham (pictured right) has called out the bunker after the Titans' copped a brutal call amid their comeback against the Storm. (Images: Fox Sports)

The Storm took the lead through a Nick Meaney penalty, but the ending of the contest caused uproar. Titans fans were fuming in the final minute when the bunker ruled Jojo Fifita was deemed to have stripped the ball from Meaney.

Fifita made the tackle, but didn't appear to make any attempt at the ball, which saw Meaney lose it backwards and a Titans player dive on it. The referee deemed a knock on from Fifita. The Titans challenged the call.

Replays showed Meaney attempted the offload and lost it. NRL great Graham was in disbelief in commentary and claimed the Titans should have been awarded the ball. “Whoever is in the Bunker has clearly never played a game of rugby league in their life. There is no attempt to strip,” Graham said when watching the replay.

Kieran Foran reacts.
Kieran Foran (pictured) was dumbfounded at the stripping call against the Titans.

And Kieran Foran was left pleading to the referee after watching the replay that Meaney was trying to offload the ball. The penalty to the Storm all but ended the Titans' hope of winning the game. After a few moments, Graham added: "This game deserves a better finish then this." And Graham wasn't the only one let down with the final call. Fans let rip at the bunker and the baffling call, which is up there with one of the most controversial decisions so far this year.

While fans were up-in-arms, Gold Coast coach Des Hasler remained calm in his post-match press conference and praises his team's ability to fight back from a horror start. "It was disappointing we gave away some soft tries in the first half but showed plenty of character to come back," coach Hasler said.

"You are going to probably ask about the contentious calls. You get some and you lose some. The ones you lose are always the hardest. We could talk for half a day about the strip at the end but that doesn't help."

When Foran was asked about the final call from the bunker, he also played it cool. “The one at the end was an interesting call," he said. This wasn't the only bizarre call. In the first-half winger Sami appeared to bounce the ball when scoring his try in the corner. And after the bunker confirmed the try, the broadcast showed Sami laughing in disbelief, appearing to show he didn't think it would be awarded.