Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall criticises refereeing after loss to North Queensland Cowboys

In short:

Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has criticised the refereeing following his side's loss to the North Queensland Cowboys.

The Cowboys secured their spot in the finals with the 24-10 win in Townsville.

Tigers five-eighth Jarome Luai hobbled off the field in the second half.

A fired-up Benji Marshall says he will issue a "please explain" to the NRL after a series of "outrageous" calls went against Wests Tigers in their loss to North Queensland.

The Cowboys punched their ticket to the finals for a second time in three years with a 24-10 win at Townsville Stadium on Saturday night, but the victory wasn't without controversy.

Tigers five-eighth Jarome Luai had his length-of-the-field try chalked off in the first half because of a rake in the lead-up, and prop Terrell May's was also denied by the bunker after Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater was impeded, despite standing metres away from the ball.

"The level of some of the refereeing decisions today was honestly outrageous, and I thought we copped the raw end of the stick all night," Tigers coach Marshall said.

"We'll be sending in a few questions and asking for a please explain."

"We get penalised for contesting. They go down, take Jock Madden out [the] same thing. We get no penalty. They score."

"I feel like I need to stand up for my players because the way they're fighting, it's just not right."

To make matters worse, the joint venture (8-15) will sweat on Luai, who hobbled off the field in the second half and was also placed on report in his penultimate game for the club.

North Queensland (13-10) will not worry about the contentious calls after becoming the last team to seal their top-eight spot, after South Sydney secured their finals place with a 42-22 victory over Gold Coast earlier on Saturday.

AAP

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