Referees blow 24 penalties in Rabbitohs’ stunning come from behind win over Bulldogs
THE drama and controversy of last week continued at ANZ Stadium with the match officials stealing the spotlight from South Sydney’s gutsy come-from-behind victory over Canterbury.
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IF the referees keep this up they will be playing in front of empty stadiums by the end of the season.
Todd Greenberg might not want to admit it but this crackdown on infringements has developed into a farce and it is now completely overshadowing the football.
The drama and controversy of last week continued at ANZ Stadium on Friday with the match officials blowing 24 penalties all up and again stealing the spotlight from South Sydney’s gutsy 20-16 come-from-behind victory over Canterbury.
Played in front of a Good Friday crowd of 33,471, the Rabbitohs at least gave their fans reason to go home happy after two tries in the final five minutes to Hymel Hunt and Cameron Murray stole the win.
REPORT: Seibold ‘filthy’ over Burgess incident
But while the end was a classic finish, unfortunately the aftermath was swamped by controversy after Canterbury skipper Josh Jackson revealed referee Ben Cummins admitted his mistake that led to a crucial Greg Inglis first half try.
While neither Jackson or Dean Pay blamed the loss on the call, they had every reason to be blowing up.
Approaching halftime with the Dogs ahead 12-0, Cummins called Jackson from one side of the field to the other so he could hand out an official warning for repeated infringements.
The problem for Jackson was he wasn’t given sufficient time to get back in position before Inglis barged over.
“I don’t know if it was an apology but he basically owned up to the fact that he made a mistake,” Jackson said.
“He blew the try and then I went over to talk to him.
“I think it was after that he realised what had happened.”
Jackson was defending at centre after Will Hopoate moved to fullback to cover Moses Mbye who was forced out of the game in a 6th minute after a head collision.
Pay was unimpressed, not just by that call but the continued stop-start nature of the game and the consistency of decisions.
“The penalty count was 14-4 at one stage,” Pay said.
“Like, we can’t be that bad and then that good.”
One particular call that left many baffled was when Aiden Tolman was pinged for not using his foot to play the ball. Replays showed Tolman at least made an effort and you could have found plenty worse throughout the game.
Asked if consistency was the issue, Pay said: “You tell me? Have you seen them let go?
“So if they are going to do it be consistent about it, that is all we are asking.
“I’m my opinion it is just bogging the game down.”
Jackson said “you just can’t” build momentum in the current conditions.
Souths coach Anthony Seibold was equally angry at a bunker decision to overturn a live call that resulted in Sam Burgess placed on report for lifting his forearm into Josh Morris.
Overall, Seibold believed Canterbury set out the push the boundaries.
“It is certainly affecting the spectacle of the game but I thought the Bulldogs came here to make it a real scrap today,” Seibold said.
“If you have a look at the amount of times of second efforts in tackles. One thing I thought the referees did do was they kept penalising them. I suppose that was a gutsy move by them because I thought it was warranted.
“I am not having a go at them for getting penalised.
“They came with a plan which I thought really put us off our game.”
Full-time SOUTH SYDNEY 20 (B Burns H Hunt G Inglis C Murray tries A Doueihi 2 goals) bt CANTERBURY 16 (J Morris 2 tries K Foran 4 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: Ben Cummins, Peter Gough. Crowd: 32,471