Penrith can’t pull off another comeback as Canterbury hold on for 20-18 victory

IT was tinged with controversy but Dean Pay surely won’t care. After two heavy defeats to start his reign at Belmore, the Bulldogs have finally delivered for their new coach.

Josh Morris of the Bulldogs (right) celebrates with brother Brett (left) after scoring a try during the Round 3 NRL match between the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the Penrith Panthers at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Friday, March 23, 2018. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

ANTHONY Griffin has warned players will be left with no option but to start taking dives after a controversial obstruction call marred Canterbury’s breakthrough 20-18 win over Penrith.

On a night the Bulldogs produced a gutsy defensive effort to hand Dean Pay his first win as an NRL coach, the big news after the game surrounded a knee injury to boom halfback Nathan Cleary and a horrible video refereeing blunder.

While the Panthers again gave up a 14-0 first half lead for the third straight week, Canterbury’s opening try to Moses Mbye just shouldn’t have been awarded and ultimately it proved the difference in the scores.

The Bulldogs got the jump on Penrith.

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After a week of outrage over the refs blowing too many penalties, this time video ref Steve Chiddy unbelievably decided not to hand Penrith a penalty but instead award the try.

While James Maloney was clearly interfered with by Will Hopoate in the lead up, Chiddy ruled it was only “minimal” interference.

Griffin did not blame the loss on that call but he was well within his rights to argue against the decision.

“I am not whinging about the result but that is why they brought the obstruction rule in,” Griffin said.

“I thought it was just a classic obstruction.”

Asked if it would encourage players to take dives in the future, Griffin conceded: “Well, that is what we were just talking about.

“If we have to take a dive.

Defeat was tough to take for James Maloney.

The Bulldogs are off the mark.

“It is not good for the game and it is not something we want to encourage our players to do.

“But if you have got to take a dive to save a try that is what they are encouraging you to do if they let tries like that.”

What made the call tougher for Penrith to cop was that not long later a similar obstruction call went against Maloney when Penrith was on the attack.

“I thought both of them were tough calls on us,” captain Peter Wallace said.

Cleary will have scans on Saturday to determine the extent of a suspected medial ligament injury suffered early in the first half.

He appears no chance to be back for Thursday night’s clash against North Queensland in Townsville.

While Cleary played through until halftime, he did not return and it remains to be seen how long he will be sidelined.

Penrith just couldn’t string their trademark attack together.

Penrith is already reeling after injuries to Sam McKendry (knee), Tim Browne (ruptured bowel) and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (jaw) this season.

It’s a shame the drama stole the spotlight off the Bulldogs’ win because it was exactly the type of performance their fans had been hoping to see under Pay.

After conceding 66 points in their opening losses to Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters, they looked terrific in attack in the first half and then fought their way home on the back of their defence.

Up front, David Klemmer and Josh Jackson led the way while Moses Mbye was outstanding at fullback, finishing with two tries.

Benji’s younger brother Jeremy Marshall-King also played solid in his first starting game and veteran Josh Morris scored a well-deserved 90-metre intercept try in his 200th NRL game for the club.

Pay was understandably all smiles after the game, getting to sing the Canterbury victory song for the first time since he won the premiership with the club under Chris Anderson in 1995.

The Morris boys both turned back the clock.

Both teams had their moments in an enthralling game.

“It has changed a little bit since I have been here,” Pay smiled.

“It’s been a while.

“It is nice.

“It is a good reward for them.

“They have copped a bit over the last couple of weeks.

“We had a fair few blokes out on their feet and they just kept turning up for one another.

“They are a really good group of boys and they stick together.”

CANTERBURY 20 (M Mbye 2 W Hopoate J Morris tries M Mbye 2 goals) bt PENRITH 18 (D Edwards J Maloney J Mansour tries N Cleary 2 J Maloney goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: Gavin Reynolds, Adam Gee. Crowd: 11,247.