Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has questioned the decision-making from the Bunker after his side's 16-10 defeat to the Parramatta Eels at Bankwest Stadium on Friday night.
Early in the match, both teams were denied tries for pushing opposing players while chasing down attacking kicks.
Eels wing Blake Ferguson was ruled by the Bunker to have pushed Stephen Crichton illegally out of the contest for a high ball.
Minutes later, Panthers centre Dean Whare pushed Michael Jennings before gathering the ball and crossing the line.
The try was ruled out after replays showed Ware clearly made contact with Jennings, albeit far less forcefully than Ferguson's shove on Crichton.
Cleary admits the call wasn't game-changer, but was clearly frustrated about the deciscon.
"They've opened a can of worms if that's not a try," Cleary said, while shaking his head.
"We got penalised last week for something similar to probably what Fergo [Ferguson] did.
"Steve Crichton I think was trying to get to the ball and pulled a guy out of the way, so whether you agree with that or not.
"But yeah, Dean Whare's one [laughs] but you know what that wasn't the winning and losing of the game."
Regardless, the Panthers were their own worst enemies as for the second time in three weeks, blowing a second-half lead.
The Panthers led 10-0 at the main break after wingers Brian To'o and Josh Mansour both scored. But the Eels hit the front midway through the second half with three tries in six minutes.
A fortnight ago, the Panthers led 14-0 against the Newcastle Knights before the match ended in a draw after golden point.
"Any team who can get some momentum - especially with the new rules - can score points, especially this Parramatta team," Cleary conceded.
"We're still working away at it. We improved in that aspect last week but in a big tough game it doesn't take much.
"That's the big lesson for us tonight. I was really happy with the first half, a pretty tough and intense game.
"They coughed up possession two or three times and we probably did the same [leading 10-0]. It was crucial because I thought we drifted at that stage whereas we needed to go for the throat.
"They got a little bit of possession and had a lot of ball down our end. After that period we were able to hold them and felt comfortable."
The defeat was the Panthers' first of the season, while the Eels remain unbeaten after five games to secure their best start to a campaign since the club's last premiership season in 1986.
However the Eels face a tough fortnight ahead as they face the two-time defending champion Sydney Roosters before facing the Canberra Raiders.
Asked whether his ladder-leading Eels fans can start getting excited about challenging for the crown, coach Brad Arthur said: "[There's] still 15 games to go."
"Tonight was a challenge, we knew [Penrith] were a very good football team. It could've went either way. But we'll know how well we're going next week."
