St George Illawarra prop Ryan Couchman has maintained he did not strip the ball out of Bronson Xerri's hands in the defining moment of his side's Las Vegas loss to Canterbury.
Referee Grant Atkins' decision to penalise Couchman in golden point has become the flashpoint of the NRL's Vegas extravaganza, after the Bulldogs claimed a 15-14 victory.
Dragons coach Shane Flanagan conceded on Saturday night (Sunday AEDT) that it left the big week ending on a sour note, adamant his side deserved a draw.
With 70 seconds left in golden point, Couchman was ruled to have stripped the ball out of Xerri's control as he bumped the ball with his hand after contact in the tackle.
Instead of a scrum to the Dragons for a Bulldogs knock on, Canterbury kicked for touch and ultimately set Stephen Crichton up for the match-winning field goal with six seconds to play.
A dejected Couchman insisted afterwards that he had not attempted to play at the ball, backing up his coach's claims that it was a "loose carry" from Xerri "every day of the week".
"I thought it was a tough call," Couchman said.
"My first thought was 'challenge it'. And then Gutho (Clint Gutherson) quickly said we don't have one.
"I did (think it was a loose carry), but we're not going to blame the referees.
"Referees have to make decisions and they do their best. Disappointed with it, I didn't think I stripped the ball. But it is what it is."
Speaking after the game, Xerri was adamant Atkins had got the call right.
"It was definitely a strip," the Bulldogs centre said.
"I was confident, but if they went to say it was a knock-on, I would have told Critta (Crichton) to challenge it for sure."
The Dragons' inability to challenge after squandering their captain's review in the first half also prompted questions over whether teams should be granted an extra one in golden point.
Flanagan supported those calls after fulltime, but questioned if it would have made any difference.
"That decision, whether it was going to be changed or not, I'm not quite sure," Flanagan said.
"There were a couple of others that went to the bunker that I thought were strange, let's put it that way."
ARL Commission chair Peter V'landys would not weigh in on the ruling, but confirmed he had no issue with Flanagan voicing his concerns.
"What people have to understand is referees are human," V'landys told AAP.
"They make decisions in a fraction of a second. They get probably 96 per cent right, but everyone focuses on the 4 per cent they get wrong.
"It's an 80-minute game. It's not a one-minute game. And sometimes you get the decisions go your way and other times you don't.
"I can understand Shane. He's a passionate guy who wants to do the best for his team. And being straight after the game, naturally he was quite emotional."
