The Canberra Raiders bit their tongues and were gracious in defeat, but talk of the refereeing howler that cost his team dominated the post-match discussion.
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Raiders coach Ricky Stuart, co-captain Jarrod Croker and Clive Churchill Medallist Jack Wighton all refused to talk about the incident.
The NRL admitted referee Ben Cummins had called six again, but it was the wrong call and that regardless of what happened from that moment they were damned.
What did happen was Wighton attacked thinking they had a new set of six, with #sixagain trending on Twitter, only to get called to hand the ball over when he was tackled.
On the very next set the Sydney Roosters raced the length of the field to score the match-winning try in the 14-8 victory.
Stuart called for the media to form their own opinion and preferred to focus on congratulating the Roosters in winning back-to-back premierships.
He said NRL football boss Graham Annesley had wanted to talk to him after the game, but he wasn't interested.
Stuart instead said they had their chances, but didn't take them.
One betting agency refunded all bets on the Raiders due to the controversy, while a gofundme page sprung up to raise money for any potential fine Stuart got from his post-match press conference.
They needn't have worried.
"You all saw it. None of us here will be commenting on that tonight. It's not the time to talk about it," Stuart said.
"The Roosters achieved something very special tonight - winning two grand finals in a row - I don't want to take the spotlight off that.
"Instead of me tomorrow saying what I think and then getting abused in regards to my unsportsmanship, you write what you think.
"The first thing I did when I walked onto the field is I went to the four officials and congratulated them on a big effort. No one goes out there to make a mistake.
"They've got tough jobs and it was a really good game of football tonight. We could've won it, we didn't and it's a very empty feeling losing a grand final."
Annesley watched the incident in detail, looking at four different camera angles of the Wighton bomb.
He said it had come off a Raiders player and it never should have been called six again.
But he admitted that's exactly what the referee did - and from that moment the NRL was in trouble.
"My judgement is that the ball did deflect off a Canberra player, which meant that six tackles should not have been awarded," Annesley said.
"The referee initially ruled six again and then one of his touch judges and the assistant referee immediately tell him it came off a Canberra player.
"He corrects his initial call and in the space of the remaining play he calls last tackle on at least four occasions.
"It's obviously very messy and very disappointing for the game as a whole that we're now talking about an incident where they actually got the decision right, but they got it right in a way that's created an enormous amount of controversy.
"Does that initial decision of six again affect the way Canberra play out that tackle? I'm sure it does.
"But if they had not corrected the decision and the Raiders had scored I'd probably still be sitting here telling you a try had been scored off an incorrect decision."
It left Stuart thinking of what could have been.
He was proud of his team, who defied all the so-called critics to be dominating the star-studded Roosters.
They were in control of the game until that crucial error.
It's left the Green Machine feeling they're on the verge of building something special themselves - just as the Roosters have done.
"It was there to win for us wasn't it. If that's the case you've got the ascension," Stuart said.
"The plan we had was working. We were coming home really strongly towards the plan we had and we lost a bit of momentum there on a couple of scenarios."
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