Ben Hunt has questioned the contentious State of Origin II penalty try which arguably cost Queensland victory, arguing it was Boyd Cordner who ran into him.
NSW were awarded just the second penalty try in Origin history after their skipper was ruled to have been impeded while chasing a James Maloney grubber into the in-goal in the first-half of Sunday's 18-14 win at ANZ Stadium.
The incident gave the Blues a 12-10 lead nine minutes before halftime and proved decisive in the wash up as they clinched just their second series win in 13 years.
The Blues were in no doubt the bunker made the right call with coach Brad Fittler describing it as "brave".
Maloney said there was no doubt Cordner would have got to the ball first and the officials had no other choice.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Despite appearing to throw an arm out at Cordner as he ran through the line, Hunt argued he was simply standing in the defensive line and did nothing wrong.
"It's hard to say he would have got there, I'm not too sure," Hunt told AAP.
"I thought I was just standing my ground to make a tackle and he ran straight into me.
"That's what the officials said. They make the decisions and we have to live with it."
Some questioned whether instead of awarding a penalty try, Hunt should have been sin-binned for a professional foul.
In the NRL's 2018 laws and interpretations handbook, it states a referee "may award a penalty try if, in his opinion, a try would have been scored but for the unfair play of the defending team".
Asked if he was satisfied that a try would have been scored, Maroons coach Kevin Walters said: "No. Does anyone in the room think it would have been?"
Walters did question whether the decision was correct however refused to blame the outcome on the incident.
"I don't want that to be what this is all about," Walters said.
"NSW won and we've got to take our hats off to NSW but it was a tough call."
