SAM Burgess refused to blame the controversial try Hull KR were awarded in the first half for Warrington Wolves' agonising defeat in the Super League semi-finals.

While he had sympathy for referee Liam Moore's position in that he had to make an "on-field call," however, he questioned how he could send Joe Burgess' barge-over effort up as a try despite a seeming lack of clear evidence he had got the ball to ground.

He also preferred to look at what his side could have done to stop Burgess' effort at source, while he also reflected on some missed opportunities in a second half that saw them fight back from 10-0 down.

Here is everything the Wire boss said post-match...

Q: Just gives us your overriding emotions first and foremost if you can?

SB: I’m disappointed. We came here to win and we didn’t, so I’m disappointed with that.

Q: How do you feel about your side’s performance?

SB: I thought we were okay.

We showed loads of spirit which I knew we would. We knew the start would be hard because we were coming off a six-day turnaround.

Tomorrow’s game is an eight-day turnaround, which is crazy but that’s a conversation I’ll have internally.

We knew they would be fresher than us early and I thought we managed it okay, but the tries we conceded were pretty soft.

The Burgess try – I don’t even know if it’s a try. I don’t know what the ref sees or how he can sends it up as a try.

He takes about 10 looks at it. So if you take that long to look at it, how do you send it up as a try?

It’s very hard to overturn it when you can’t see anything. It’s disappointing that was part of the game but it’s probably not what cost us.

Q: The on-field call is a live debate anyway and that will only intensify now – is it time to get rid of it?

SB: It doesn’t really matter what I think. It’s for the people who make the rules.

We’re all fans of the game and we all want to see a fair contest.

He doesn’t know – nobody knows. Let the technology tell us the answer. If you can’t make a decision, you shouldn’t have to. It’s too big.

Q: Do you think it’s unfair on referees with how it is?

SB: I think so, and I thought he did a good job tonight.

He has to make a call and for us, I don’t think it’s the right one. That’s sport.

Q: You had a try disallowed in the first half for an obstruction as well – did you get a view on that?

SB: We didn’t have a live feed, so I couldn’t see anything back. I don’t know what happened there as well.

Live, it didn’t feel like obstruction but I feel like I’m disagreeing with every decision which is not my style.

We lost the game and I’m disappointed with that. If he gives obstruction, he gives it. It’s done now.

Q: Do you feel like you had enough opportunities to win that game in the second half?

SB: I felt so – we had a couple of chances that we didn’t quite take.

You’ve got to give Hull KR a lot of credit – they’re a great side and they’ve had a great year. They made us work hard early and expend a lot of energy.

They defended with a lot of spirit in the second half – they changed the way they defended which made it a bit trickier to score points, but they’re a great side.

Q: When the dust settles, how will you reflect on your first year in charge?

SB: We didn’t win, and that’s what we came here to do.

Q: You didn’t use Paul Vaughan until into the second half – was there a thought process behind that?

SB: It was nothing really – Vaughany’s not played for three weeks and didn’t have a great deal of game time last week.

I thought he gave us a big punch in the second half, so there was nothing behind it really.

Q: Did you have a conversation with the referee after the game to ask why he gave what he gave?

SB: What’s the point in that?

I thought he had a good game and I don’t want to make it about the referee as he does his best every time he refs.

He’s in that position and he’s got to make a call in the moment. Just from our perspective, it’s not the right one.

Q: Aside from the controversy, is the timing of that try a gut-punch as you’d soaked up a lot before that?

SB: It’s soft.

You don’t deserve to be going into a Grand Final if you’re conceding barge-over tries from dummy-half.

In Round Two, I can live with it but in a semi-final, it’s not Premiership-winning stuff.

That won’t win us a comp, so we have to fix that up.