On Sunday it was Dragons coach Paul McGregor who was left wondering whether the under-fire bunker was $2 million flop after having three tries disallowed in the fist half of his side’s 26-10 loss to the Warriors.

For the fifth straight game the Dragons were held try-less in the second half but were controversially denied two tries in the first – one to Gareth Widdop and the other to the returning Benji Marshall – after both were referred to the bunker.

On-field referee Gavin Badger sent both to the bunker as tries only to be over-ruled on both occasions by video referee Bernard Sutton both for obstructions in the lead up.

The Marshall no-try in particular drew the ire of fans who vented their anger on social media and club great Mark Gasnier who told Fox Sports that such decisions were turning fans off the game.

“All common sense is gone,” Gasnier said.

“They need to get rid of [the obstruction rule]. It makes you not want to watch the game. I do it for a job but if you’re sitting at home and you’ve got the choice to flick on or off...you’re going to flick off.”

The ruling proved a crucial one in the match with the Warriors forward Charlie Gubb crossing at the other end just minutes later to extend the home side’s lead to 18-6 10 minutes before halftime.

The Dragons pegged the lead back to 18-10 when Widdop and Marshall combined beautifully for Kalifa Faifai Loa’s 35^th minute try, but couldn’t manage a single point in the second half. 

The win snapped one of the NRL’s longest running hoodoos for the Warriors who hadn’t beaten the Dragons since round 18, 2007 prior to Sunday’s clash.

It also came in a week in which Warriors coach Andrew McFadden dropped six players, including Internationals Manu Vatuvei, Ben Matulino, Konrad Hurrell and Bodene Thompson, for disciplinary reasons.

Shaun Johnson and Matthew Allwood also scored for the Warriors in the first half while recalled Jeff Robson’s 61^st minute four-pointer was the only try of the second half.