Wayne Bennett defended Latrell Mitchell’s tackle on Heamasi Makasini that resulted in an eight-point try for the Tigers in a typically brief and brutal press conference following Souths’ hard fought 20-16 victory in Gosford.
Right before halftime, Mitchell caught Makasini high in the act of trying to save a try and the Bunker ruled he used a “swinging arm” and made contact to the head of the Tigers young gun.
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An eight-point try was awarded to give Adam Doueihi a chance to kick two conversions and give the Tigers a 14-12 lead at half-time after they trailed 12-0.
However, Bennett believes Mitchell was playing at the ball and compared it to a similar tackle on Jye Gray, which only got a penalty.
“Well, the same thing happened with Jye Gray, he got hit in the head and we got a penalty for that,” Bennett said.
“I mean Latrell didn’t deliberately play at his head. He played at the ball. He tried to get the ball and knock it out of his hands, so I thought it was harsh.
“But maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know what else he can do there. There was obviously a penalty there.
“But I think it’s added two points to it. That was my feeling on it. And if you look at those instances, you’ll see that Jye probably got hit harder than what Makasini did.
“So anyway, it’s over and done with now.
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Bennett was at his brief best in summing up a performance he wasn’t particularly proud of from his Souths side.
“Not much,” Bennett said when asked his thoughts on the game.
Bennett was pressed on his side’s impressive defence, which turned the Tigers away despite a mountain of possession and territory against them.
“Talk to Cam (Murray),” Bennett said.
The journalists continued to try and get something out of Bennett before he hit them with his feelings on the performance.
“You haven’t got the message yet have you? I’m not pleased,” Bennett said.
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“Nothing pleased me. The only thing that pleased me was when Moala came off and gave me the chocolates around his neck.
“We’re better than what we played tonight. If we keep playing like that we won’t be in contention for anything, except bottom end of the competition.”
However, Bennett had more to say about star fullback Jye Gray, who put in a man-of-the-match display with some brilliant plays in both attack and defence.
The highlight came when he outleapt multiple Tigers jumpers twice his size to seal the victory.
“It’s quite remarkable what he does and how he gets it done,” Bennett said.
“He’s got confidence in himself and belief in himself. He knows he’s going to have bigger guys jumping on him, so he’s honed his technique to be able to handle that situation. He does it really well.”
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Souths skipper Cameron Murray agreed it was not his side’s best performance, but was happy to get the win.
“I don’t think it was a step forward,” Murray said.
“Poor clinically from us, I think, the discipline wasn’t quite there.”
“I think intensity in our defence probably wasn’t quite where it needed to be either.
“But some of those games you just need to find a way to win. I think we did that tonight.”
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