The Cowboys punched their ticket to the finals for a second time in three years with a 24-10 win at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Saturday night, but the victory wasn't without controversy.
Five-eighth Jarome Luai had his length-of-the-field try chalked off in the first half because of a rake in the lead-up, and prop Terrell May's was also denied by the bunker after fullback Scott Drinkwater was impeded, despite standing metres away from the ball.
"The level of some of the refereeing decisions today was honestly outrageous, and I thought we copped the raw end of the stick all night," Tigers coach Marshall said.
"We'll be sending in a few questions and asking for a 'please explain'.
"We get penalised for contesting. They go down, take Jock Madden out (the) same thing. We get no penalty. They score.
"I feel like I need to stand up for my players because the way they're fighting, it's just not right."
To make matters worse, the joint venture (8-15) will sweat on Luai, who hobbled off the field in the second half and was also placed on report in his penultimate game for the club.
North Queensland (13-10) won't worry about the contentious calls after becoming the last team to seal their top-eight spot, after South Sydney secured their finals place with a 42-22 victory over Gold Coast earlier on Saturday.
The Cowboys sit four points clear of ninth-placed Manly with one round remaining, but their win wasn't pretty as they made a sea of errors and went into halftime trailing 10-8.
Second-rower Heilum Luki scored a settling try for the home team in the 53rd minute, and North Queensland crossed twice more to seal the win.
Superstar halfback Tom Dearden also returned from a leg injury and had two try assists, while Luki was prolific with 143 run metres, a line-break and a four-pointer.
"Just talking to him (Dearden) inside ... (he said he) felt a little bit heavy at different stages, so only upwards from here," Cowboys coach Todd Payten said.
"We've got some work to do, and our best footy is good enough. We showed glimpses of it tonight, and that's not good enough come September."
The Cowboys drew first blood when centre Tom Chester stormed over, but Wests hit back when winger Jeral Skelton pounced on a Luai grubber.
Luai threw a lofting ball to set up winger Junior Tupou in the 30th minute, but Luki crashed over after halftime to re-establish North Queensland's lead.
A kick by Drinkwater rattled off the goalposts and into the hands of centre Jaxon Purdue, before Chester crossed for his second to ice the victory and help the Cowboys win their first match in Townsville since a historic 70-point thumping by the Sydney Roosters last month.
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