The Dolphins secured a 24-20 victory over the Titans, concluding the Titans' 2026 season, but coach Josh Hannay voiced significant dissatisfaction about the officiating during the match.
Despite the loss, the Titans exhibited resilience against a top-four opponent, managing to compete effectively even when reduced to 12 players on two occasions.
Hannay articulated his belief that crucial decisions by the referees heavily impacted the outcome, overshadowing the efforts of the players.
"(It was a) great start," he commented. "A couple of big calls sort of flipped the game on its head, lost all momentum, fought really hard to regain momentum and then finish really strongly, and then again, just some stuff that is hard to explain, but we're getting used to it."
A pivotal moment arose in the 22nd minute when Keano Kini was sin-binned, a call Hannay deemed excessively strict.
He noted that shortly after the sin bin incident, Herbie Farnworth scored for the Dolphins, an occurrence Hannay believed stemmed from a knock-on during a contested ball play.
"I thought it (Kini sin bin) was incredibly harsh. Not long after that, they get a try (to Farnworth) from a knock-on, a contested ball," he stated. "So you talk about momentum swings, they don't get much bigger than that."
Even while one player down, the Titans limited damage to just one try against them during Kini's suspension and fought to reintegrate themselves into the game.
In the dying moments, however, Moeaki Fotuaika was also sent off, further complicating the Titans' defensive efforts as the Dolphins aimed to seal the game.