Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has attempted to remain tight-lipped when asked about some crucial refereeing decisions during his side’s qualifying final loss to the Storm.
Already dealing with the loss of skipper Stephen Crichton to an ankle injury, Ciraldo said the Bulldogs were on the wrong end of a few calls in a match officiated by Adam Gee, believing “not much” went his side’s way.
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“You need a bit of luck but we got none tonight,” Ciraldo said in his post-match press conference.
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“It’s one of the bravest performances I’ve seen or been involved in. We lost Kiks (Kikau) early for a bit there and then we lost Critta and then we lost Enari (Tuala) later on.
“Not much was going our way but geez they were brave. I’m just incredibly proud of how they prepared and how they played. A lot has been said on how we’ve been playing but we came down here full of belief and played like it.”
A journalist then asked about some decisions which went against the Bulldogs when the two sides were in the midst of a tight, back-and-forth battle.
It was clear the Bulldogs coach had a bit to get off his chest, but he kept his cool, although he did list three of the refereeing decisions he disagreed with.
“I was probably hoping you’d ask me that question ten minutes ago and then I calmed down and thought about not getting myself in trouble,” Ciraldo said.
“We come down here three weeks ago and you sort of, you know, the rules of engagement after that. Yeah, I’ll just shut me mouth.
“I think before half time it was a half a second slower in the play of the ball and we were the ones getting penalised for slow ruck. So, I wasn’t happy with that.”
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Ciraldo then referenced a penalty the Storm received in the first half when Viliame Kikau was pinged for a high tackle on Josh King.
The Storm added two points from the penalty to edge ahead 8-6.
Fox League’s Michael Ennis slammed the call, labelling it as “embarrassing”.
Ciraldo called it “disappointing” before pointing to another pressure relieving penalty called against his side later in the game.
“The two points, high tackle penalty in the first half, I was disappointed in that,” Ciraldo said.
“And then when we gained some ascendancy there in the second half, there was a crusher penalty coming off their own try line. I was even more unhappy with that.
“So, you know, as I said before, you need a bit of luck in these games and we got zero tonight.”
A journalist then asked Ciraldo to elaborate on what he meant by the “rules of engagement” comment, but the Bulldogs coach left it alone.
“Yeah I’ll probably just leave it there. I’ve probably said too much,” he said.
The Bulldogs face the prospect of potentially being bounced in straight sets. Next week, they’ll take on the loser of Saturday’s Panthers v Warriors clash.
However, despite the loss, Ciraldo is looking at the silver lining with a home final awaiting the proud club.
“We go home next week in front of our home fans. Like I just said to the boys, if I told you at the start of pre-season we’ll be in week two of the finals in front of our home fans and an opportunity to go to a prelim, you’d take it. So that’s the opportunity ahead of us,” the Bulldogs coach told reporters.
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