“The way it was put out there was as if we were trying to push him out, which wasn’t the case,” Robinson said.

“Newcastle rang us – obviously having talked to his manager beforehand when he got dropped, to try and get him out – and we said yes ... then they’ve backtracked at the end of the week and today, so that’s really annoying.

“If you ask for something, you’ve prepared it, then you stick by it. And they haven’t done that, and it’s thrown Dom in a spin, and us all this week, when it wasn’t our doing.

“So it’s pretty annoying … it’s been pitched one way, and then they’ve pivoted.”

Robinson said the sticking point was that the Knights asked the Roosters to pay out the balance of Young’s contract for this season, estimated to be worth about $200,000.

“They want us to release him, but us to pay money for it, when we weren’t even thinking about releasing him,” Robinson said. “In what world does that happen?”

Knights chief executive Philip Gardner declined to respond to Robinson’s comments, saying: “We have more class than that.”

Young was dropped after the Roosters’ round seven loss to Penrith and played NSW Cup on Sunday, scoring a try.

Robinson said former Wallaby Mark Nawaqanitawase had leapfrogged Young based on his form this season, but that could change.

“It’s just I thought Mark was outplaying him,” Robinson said. “Really simple. It happens every week in sport around the world. It’s quite simple. He’s a really good player. He’s an NRL player. He’s a starting NRL player. But Mark was playing slightly better, and you make that choice.”

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In contrast to the Young imbroglio, Robinson said the transfer of Smith to arch-rivals South Sydney was likely to be “pretty simple from both ends”.

“I think both sides have handled it pretty cleanly and quite well, which would be disappointing for the gossip columnists to hear, but it was pretty clean, all of that,” he said.

“And then, yeah, the other one [Young] ... it’s pretty rare. I haven’t seen too many go like that, to be honest.”

Robinson said the Roosters were still interested in signing departing Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans, but have not yet started negotiating with his management.

Trainers under scrutiny for wetting ball as Cowboys coach rages at referees

By Dan Walsh

The NRL will on Monday review reports of both Penrith and North Queensland trainers spraying water on the ball before golden-point kick-offs as Cowboys coach Todd Payten prepares to lodge a formal complaint over several calls in his side’s 30-all draw with Penrith.

Both Payten and Penrith opposite Ivan Cleary were incensed with the officiating in Saturday’s 90-minute thriller in Townsville, with the North Queensland mentor struggling to hold himself back from swearing as he critiqued contentious calls.

The NRL football department is also in possession of footage shot from the stands in which Penrith’s football manager Shane Elford - who doubles as their blue-shirt trainer on game day - sprays water on the ball before the Panthers kicked off golden point.

Cowboys halfback Jake Clifford caught the ball without incident.

Payten did not respond to calls on Sunday but told The Daily Telegraph that Elford “did it before every kickoff. We noticed it in the [coaching] box.”

North Queensland’s trainer also sprayed water on the ball before Clifford prepared to kick off the second half of extra-time, but referee Todd Smith picked up on it.

Smith could be heard on the broadcast calling for an extra ball and explaining shortly afterwards that “he squirted the ball”.

The NRL goes over all football matters as part of its weekly Monday reviews.

Payten raised multiple referee decisions in his post-match press conference, taking specific issue with Cowboys winger Murray Taulagi being penalised for a high shot on Liam Henry, who slipped into the contact.

The Panthers scored from the set that followed.

Payten was incensed that Cowboys centre Viliami Vailea was not awarded a penalty minutes later after being flattened by Tom Jenkins in cover defence.

The collision left Vailea in pain on the ground.

“Murray Taulagi got a penalty where a bloke fell into his chest and then Viliami Vailea, less than five minutes later, got his head taken off,” Payten said.

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“It was right in front of the touch judge, and there was no call there. That was wrong. There was also a flop … on the 40-metre line. Any later and it would’ve been tomorrow.”

The Cowboys coach will formally complain to the NRL this week, but claimed on Saturday night that he’d never allow a player to get away with as many mistakes as he feels the referees make.

“It’s so frustrating, we want consistency, and we’re not getting it. I’m confused what’s a high shot and what’s not. I’m sure everyone else is,” he said.

“I’ll talk to the NRL through the week, go through the right channels, but it’s just white noise. ‘Yeah, we got that wrong’. But no one’s held accountable for it.”