Sydney Roosters playmaker Daniel Mortimer says the Roosters only have themselves to blame for losing Sunday's match to Manly, despite admitting a controversial decision to deny a try killed their momentum.
Mortimer was denied by video referee Pat Reynolds a try that would've levelled the scores at 16-16 with 20 minutes remaining because of an infringement by second-rower Brad Takairangi, who was ruled to have made dangerous contact with his elbow in the lead-up and was placed on report.
Takairangi escaped punishment from the NRL match review committee on Monday and is free to face Canterbury next round, though that is little comfort for the Roosters who left Brookvale Oval with a loss.
Mortimer, who was promoted to first grade with regular halfback Mitchell Pearce on NSW Origin duty, said while he felt the Roosters were coming home with a wet sail and had their momentum halted immediately by the controversial decision, he believes the team didn't react well to the call.
"It was an unfortunate thing to happen but, in saying that, we should've lifted and bounced back and defended well, but we ended up [conceding another penalty goal]," Mortimer told AAP.
"We could've finished a bit stronger.
"I felt we'd definitely be in with a very good shot if we got that because it would've made it 16-all and I felt we were coming home pretty strongly.
"We were and our backs were getting in and making offloads and everything seemed to be coming off for us.
"It's a bit frustrating but that's footy. Sometimes you get calls and sometimes you don't."
Mortimer, who had his best game of the season for the Roosters, asked for consistency to be shown on all plays, not just those that result in tries.
"You see a lot of them in the game that will go unnoticed but, when it leads to a try, of course they're going to look at it," he said.
"And [Takairangi] did make contact with the head so I understand it, but it's a tough one because they happen every second tackle."