Nicho Hynes leads Sharks comeback as missed Bunker call leaves NRL fans fuming

NRL fans have once again been left fuming at a number of Bunker decisions after replays suggest Kayal Iro may have dropped the ball in the act of scoring in the Sharks' comeback against the Raiders. Ricky Stuart let rip at his team's efforts after Canberra held a commanding 18-0 lead in the first half of the clash against the Sharks, only to concede 36 points to lose the match.

Nicho Hynes bounced back from a horror round three performance to help steer the Sharks resurgence, but two moments in the match have left NRL and Raiders fans absolutely fuming. The biggest came in the 57th minute with the score at 18-18.

Iro charged through the line and was tackled as he crashed over and scored the try. The bunker quickly confirmed the try. However, fans have been left fuming as they claim the Bunker missed a knock-on over the line.

Iro appears to lose control of the ball as he goes to put it down over the line. The ball bounces behind Iro's back. The Bunker has scrutinised every decision this year, but many feel it somehow didn't give this try enough attention with the scores locked at 18-all.

And it wasn't the only decision that left Raiders fans fuming. Commentator Steve Roach took aim at the Bunker after the Sharks won a contentious captain's challenge to start their comeback. Ronaldo Mulitalo caught the ball off a long kick down field, before running into the Raiders defence.

Mulitalo dropped the ball when lying on his back, but jumped up and quickly told his captain to challenge the decision. The replay showed Hudson Young landing on Mulitalo with his hand landing on the ball. There appeared no attempt to strip the ball with Mulitalo just losing control on impact.

However, the Bunker ruled Young had interfered with his hand pulling the arm of Mulitalo. The Sharks won the challenge and went up the other side of the field to start their comeback.

"Jeez I reckon that is a pretty tough call. I don't know about that," Steve Roach said in Fox Sports commentary. "You have to hold onto the ball at some stage." Fans agreed both calls were very harsh on the Raiders, leaving NRL fans once again baffled at the Bunker's decisions. While some felt Iro's try was fine - when played in normal speed - others felt he clearly lost control of the ball before placing it down.

Ricky Stuart erupts after Raiders collapse

While the Sharks may have received two fortunate calls from the referees, coach Ricky Stuart was not making excuses for his team. Having led 18-0 in the first-half, Stuart was extremely candid in his press conference.

"We played 12 or 14 minutes of half decent football. After that, we were embarrassing, and it was awful," Stuart said. "We've worked too hard in the off-season. That's definitely not us. But tonight it was. We won't be forgetting that night real quickly, I can promise you. It was really poor and it will be dealt with."

RELATED:

• GOOD, BAD, UGLY: Zac Lomax's surprise act amid Latrell Mitchell fallout

• Zac Lomax contract saga deepens at Dragons amid links to Sunia Turuva

Stuart made no excuses in his team's loss and claimed the Sharks showed great grit to come back. "That was a massive win for Cronulla, and they deserve recognition for it," Stuart said.

"Because they've been hit by a lot of injuries. You've got a lot of Newtown boys in there, second graders, and they've done the job. Whereas our blokes didn't."