Jason Ryles may be a rookie NRL coach but he knows better than to put his foot in it when it comes to questions about officiating in a post-game press conference.
Ryles was asked if decisions just didn’t go the Eels’ way in their 28-18 loss to the Sharks on Friday night and the 46-year-old avoided answering — but still made it known he wasn’t happy with some calls.
“I don’t know… it’s one of those things. I don’t want to be one of those coaches… one, I don’t have the runs on the board and two, I don’t have enough money to give you my honest opinion,” he said.
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Ryles then shrugged and added: “They’re human and it is what it is. We need to take it out of their hands and that’s the way I coach the players. It’s us, it’s not about the referee. Unfortunately the decisions didn’t go our way tonight but if we keep doing what we’re doing in regards to our fight and effort, it’ll turn.”
There was one decision in particular that sparked outrage when Bailey Simonsson was penalised for tackling Ronaldo Mulitalo in the air — although many will say he was simply contesting the bomb and was squashed in the process.
‘What do you want him to do?!’ | 01:01
When Ryles was asked about that decision he smiled and said “yeah” before adding “I’ll have to get a loan off Mitch” as he turned to his star halfback.
“It is what it is and again I’m not going to be the guy that comes in here,” he said.
“I’ve worked for a coach and watched other people spend lots of time on that and I just think it’s a waste of time.
“At the end of the day you need to get your own backyard right and what we can control. Sometimes you’ve got to cross your fingers but that’s life, it’s just part of the game.
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The Eels staged a comeback in the second half to set up a grandstand finish to the clash but the four tries they let in earlier came back to bit them.
Ryles summed up his feelings about the game as “frustration” but added “I can see where we’re heading.”
“We were in the fight definitely,” he said.
“We did a really good job on the back five, we stayed in the contest, we defended our goal line.
“The four last-play tries killed us but it’s just back to individual errors or lapses at crucial moments that end up being big moments for us.
“We’re not quite there yet but I see the work they put in every day, we’ll continue to improve but we just need to tidy up those individual lapses in the game.”
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