NRL 2016: Canterbury Bulldogs dazzle to beat St George Illawarra Dragons

THE Bulldogs were on fire at ANZ Stadium as they rolled the Dragons with ease, but the match wasn’t without controversy.

A FRUSTRATED St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor has questioned his side’s recent run of bad luck with officials, highlighted by one second half penalty in their past three matches.

McGregor made his disappointment towards the referee ranks clear after the Dragons’ loss to the Bulldogs on Monday night.

In a match marred by a controversial second-half try to Will Hopoate after it appeared Tony Williams had knocked on, the Saints dropped their bundle in an 18-point loss.

William Hopoate and Curtis Rona of the Bulldogs celebrate a Moses Mbye try.

While McGregor conceded the Dragons lacked effort in defence, he believes a number of calls cost his side.

“We’ve had one penalty in three weeks in second halves of footy,” McGregor said.

“So in three games of footy we’ve had one penalty in 120 minutes, so geez the other team must be disciplined.

“If you look at Lichaa’s try no one has seen the ball go down yet, there was six to go on Rona’s try and I’m not sure of the one on T-Rex’s try either.

“But some of the decisions were hard to swallow.

“Certainly the game is hard enough not to get decisions or any decisions go your way at some stage.

Michael Lichaa of the Bulldogs is tackled by Tyson Frizell.

“And today nothing went our way.

“Those decisions I spoke about a very important in the momentum of how games can be one or loss.”

Asked if he had spoken to referee’s Tony Archer, McGregor said: “I’ve had a chat the last two weeks.

“I went through the right channels and through the emails and we’ll do it again.

“They’ve got their job to do and I’ve got mine.

“At the moment I’d rather spend my time coaching.”

Of all the decisions, McGregor was particularly baffled by the bunker’s decision not to rule a knock-on against Williams.

In a call labelled by former referee Bill Harrigan as ‘ludicrous’, Hopoate was awarded a try when it appeared Williams knocked the ball on.

The bunker, led by senior review official Luke Patten, ruled Williams passed the ball backwards and accidentally knocked on.

NRL rules state that if a player accidentally knocks on and regains possession before it touches the ground, a goal post or an opponent, then play should be allowed to proceed.

McGregor conceded the call left him confused.

“Apparently it was passed into his own hand and went forward, but that’s acceptable,” he reasoned.

Tyson Frizell looked good for the Dragons, bagging a try along the way.

“Work that one out for me please.

“I don’t know what the rule is there because I haven’t seen it before.

“Obviously they do, because they made the decision.”

Dragons five-eighth Gareth Widdop was equally perplexed by the bunker’s decision to allow the Hopoate try after Williams juggled the football.

“The referee said it wasn’t deliberate and it was just accidental for the ball to pop over,” Widdop said.

“I just questioned him by saying he threw the ball over the defensive line and regathered it again.

“But the ref said it didn’t come off anyone else and it was a try.

“Those decisions can hurt you.”

For all the contentious calls, McGregor knows his side must be better.

“But that wasn’t why we lost the game,” he said.

“We lost the game because defensively we weren’t good enough.

“The opposition ran for 2000 metres, so that’s unacceptable.

“We need to be better.”

Led by barnstorming display from Tony Williams, it was the Bulldogs who recaptured their mojo up front to snap a two-game losing streak.

Mitch Rein in action for the Dragons.

Williams was a standout for Canterbury, running for 190 metres off the bench to respond in style after being dropped to reserve grade.

Bulldogs coach Des Hasler couldn’t have been happier with the performance of the man nicknamed, ‘T-Rex’.

“He was outstanding,” Hasler said.

“I think he made about 35 tackles and 15, 16 hit-ups.

“Personally for Tony I know he has been pretty disappointed leading into it, but he took it on the chin and worked hard at his game.

“He had a setback of an injury in there and I thought he hit back really well and produced a champion game.

“He needs to maintain that now.”

Will Hopoate was also a standout for the Blue and Whites, setting up two tries in his second match back from his Sunday sabbatical.

St George Illawarra deserve to be disappointed with the result and their second-half fade, but they should be proud of some individual efforts.

Benji Marshall was strong for the Dragons, setting up a try and delivering a controlled kicking game.

Winger Kurt Mann also stood out with two tries.

But in the end it was the Bulldogs, inspired by Williams, who collected the two competition points to move into sixth position after 14 rounds.