St George Illawarra will approach the NRL over five individual rulings the club believes should go under the microscope following their controversial 15-14 loss to Canterbury in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Code Sports reports Dragons coach Shane Flanagan will reach out to the NRL’s general manager of officiating, Jared Maxwell, in the coming days over five separate incidents during the blockbuster match – including a Ryan Couchman strip which ultimately led to Stephen Crichton’s ice-cool field goal for the Bulldogs.
The development follows a fiery press conference in Las Vegas on Sunday, in which Flanagan and Dragons captain Damien Cook delicately highlighted some of the calls that went against their side in the golden-point loss to the Dogs.
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Flanagan alluded to “six or seven” questionable officiating decisions during the press conference.
It has now been revealed that five individual decisions have piqued the Dragons attention, which are as follows:
– Ryan Couchman penalised for his golden point strip on Bronson Xerri. Flanagan has said of the decision: “It’s a loose carry every day of the week. There’s that and there’s a lot of others. We didn’t get the rub of the green, that’s for sure. It’s just disappointing but it wasn’t decided, in my view, in the right way”.
– The Dragons reportedly claim a Jacob Kiraz knock-on was not picked up by officials during the match. Connor Tracey retrieved the ball moments later, racing upfield in a 60-metre change in territory and possession.
– The Dragons believe a challenge should be have been overturned when Setu Tu was penalised for running an escort before being pushed in the back by Viliame Kikau.
– The Dragons believe Stephen Crichton should have been sin-binned for a tackle on Setu Tu after the winger caught a bomb. Crichton was not charged by the Match Review Committee, which was understood to discover mitigating circumstances with Tu falling and Crichton coming into the tackle with a bent back and aiming low.
– The Dragons say a Moses Suli error which was ruled a knock-on in fact went backwards.
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Shane Flanagan’s squad arrives home from Vegas on Tuesday morning, and will reportedly take their concerns to the NRL in the coming days.
An NRL spokesperson declined to comment to questions from foxsports.com.au, while the NRL’s club relationship manager of elite officiating, David Fairleigh, didn’t respond to inquiries.
It was Fairleigh who reportedly sent an email to clubs in recent weeks, according to News Corp, highlighting small changes to the definition of stealing the ball.
“Stealing the ball will be determined by the defending player(s) actions,” the email read.
“These actions may include striking at the ball, gripping and pulling at the ball or pulling a ball carries arm to dislodge the ball.”
During Sunday’s press conference, Flanagan said an additional challenge for each side in extra time would add an extra layer of protection for teams during tight finishes.
The NRL declined to speculate on such changes.
“I think it would, definitely,” Flanagan told reporters.
“That decision [strip against Bronson Xerri], and whether it was going to be changed, I’m not quite sure. There was a couple of others that went to the bunker that I found strange.
“I’ll try to find a nice word about it. We didn’t get the rub of the green in any of those decisions. Whether we got it in the last 30 seconds I’m not quite sure.
“I want to reiterate, the game has been put on a really high pedestal and tonight I just thought that it shouldn’t have been decided the way it was. The NRL has done a great job, our club has done a great job; the fans will decide.
“Good luck to the Bulldogs, they were good enough to win and to kick the field goal. That skill. But I think we should gone home with one point each.”
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Damien Cook added: “I’m always going to have a biased opinion. We are out there in the heat of battle.
“But you guys [media] watched it and all the fans watched it… I’ve been in the heat of it and am probably going to say it should go our way but that’s how competitive we are and right in the battle.”
Elsewhere, the NRL’s seven-tackle restart rule has come under scrutiny following Sunday’s game, after it too contributed to the Bulldogs’ fast finish in golden-point time.
An unsuccessful field goal attempt from Daniel Atkinson in the final 90 seconds of golden point gave Canterbury a valuable seven-tackle set advantage.
They started their set from the 20-metre line rather than the Bulldogs goal line, where fullback Connor Tracey had just received the ball.
Moments later, referee Grant Atkins ruled against the Dragons for the illegal steal on Xerri – buying the Bulldogs crucial field position en route to Crichton’s historic kick.
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