Kangaroo coach Ricky Stuart and his players have claimed they were the victims of a conspiracy by tournament organizers in the wake of their 34-20 loss to New Zealand in rugby league’s World Cup final, reports said yesterday.
Loose forward Paul Gallen claimed the Australians were “stitched up,” while others were highly critical of the controversial penalty try ruling by English video referee Steve Ganson.
There were also reports in yesterday’s press of Stuart verbally attacking Australian Rugby League chief executive Geoff Carr after Saturday’s Brisbane final.
Carr confirmed that an argument did take place, but he would not reveal what was said.
The Sydney Morning Herald said Stuart took particular exception to a number of decisions by referee Ashley Klein and made accusations that an Australian loss suited the organizers and the future of the World Cup.
The Australians went into the final as strong favorites after crushing defeats of the Kiwis, England, Papua New Guinea and Fiji in the preliminary rounds.
“Me and Ricky are good mates and I have a lot of respect for Ricky and how he handled himself,” Carr told the Herald.
“Ricky needed to blow off some steam, he needed to get it out there. He was very emotional, but I am not going to talk about what we discussed,” Carr said.
At the post-match press conference, when quizzed on what he had said to Carr, Stuart replied: “I was disappointed with the result as any coach would be.”
But the Herald said witnesses heard Stuart accuse match officials of stitching up his team to such an extent that defeat was virtually inevitable.
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