Tigers coach Benji Marshall has taken aim at the “inconsistency of the refereeing” in the NRL, passionately defending skipper Apisai Koroisau after he was placed on report twice in Thursday night’s win over the Raiders.
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Koroisau spent 10 minutes in the sin bin for a hip-drop tackle on Noah Martin in the first half and was also placed on report for a dangerous lifting tackle on Zac Hosking later in the game.
The Tigers captain has already been charged three times this season, meaning he is likely facing a stint on the sidelines when the match review committee hands down its findings on Friday.
Perhaps that is why Marshall took the opportunity to criticise the refereeing given it came after he was asked a question about the Tigers’ impressive defence.
“I’ve been happy with the defence probably out of all the aspects of our game to start the whole season,” Marshall said.
“Probably defence and the West Tigers haven’t been synonymous previously, but we made a massive effort in the pre-season to make sure that it was this year.
“So really proud of that.”
Then, the press conference took an unexpected turn.
“Yeah, look, it’s probably not a good time, but who cares?” Marshall continued.
“The inconsistency of the refereeing is annoying me at the moment, to be honest. I know we won, but just some of the calls were just… it’s hard to understand.
“Even Api’s case with the sin bin, I don’t know what he’s supposed to do in that situation. He’s making a cover tackle from behind. Of course he’s going to land on his legs.
“There’s heaps of things that didn’t go our way, but I just think the fans deserve some consistency around the interpretations of the rules. We’re not getting it.”
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Ricky furious after Tigers defeat | 04:03
When pressed further on the Koroisau hip-drop tackle, Marshall doubled down.
“Where’s he supposed to go? He’s coming from behind making a cover tackle where he has to tackle his legs. That’s where he’s going to end up,” he said.
“I don’t think it was intentional. He did his 10 minutes, surely that’s enough.”
As for the lifting tackle on Hosking, Marshall said “if it was up to” him he “probably” would have challenged it.
“I didn’t think it was that bad,” he added.
And to suggestions that added “aggression” or “passion” may have led to Koroisau’s lengthy rap sheet this season? Marshall had a simple reply.
“We’ve got to play with aggression and passion, otherwise we shouldn’t be playing,” he said.
Api Koroisau sent to bin against Raiders | 00:31
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart had a very different perspective to Marshall when asked about the refereeing performance after the game despite being on the losing side.
“I thought that was great refereeing in regards to the six-agains, because he was pinging players from both teams in regards to what’s penalty-worthy,” Stuart said.
“That’s how the game should be played… I thought he did a good job.”
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