Roosters coach Trent Robinson slams referees over ‘ridiculous’ sin bin call

Roosters coach Trent Robinson was far from happy with the referees after his side ended the clash with the Bulldogs with 11 men.

Trent Robinson wasn't happy. Photo: Fox Sports

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson has come out swinging after his side finished with 11 men in a 30-26 loss to the Canterbury Bulldogs on Friday night.

The incredible clash saw the Roosters almost chase down a 26-0 halftime deficit despite losing Sam Walker and James Tedesco through concussion while Dominic Young was sent off in a wild first half.

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Everything that could go wrong went wrong in the first half for the Roosters, capped off when Young was given his marching orders in the 27th minute for a hit that left Bulldogs fullback Blake Taaffe slumped awkwardly on the ground.

“That’s hit him right on the chin,” said Steve Roach in Fox League commentary.

“You watch the replay. In today’s game, he’s blindsided him, come in and got him right on the chops. That’s a send-off honestly.”

And referee Grant Atkins agreed.

The hit on Taaffe. Photo: Fox Sports

Blake Taaffe was in a bad way. Photo: Fox Sports

But after an epic comeback which saw the Roosters pull within six with 22 minutes remaining — although the Bulldogs extended it back out to 10 when Matt Burton scored — only got harder when Victor Radley was sin binned for the final eight minutes for a hip drop tackle.

While the Roosters were able to score through Daniel Tupou despite dropping to 11 men, they fell just short of the epic comeback.

Robinson had no excuses for the loss and said the Bulldogs “jumped us for energy” in the first half, but he added he was proud of the way the Roosters came back to “almost do the impossible”.

But the Roosters coach was far from happy when it came to the Young send off and Radley sin bin.

Asked about the send off for Young, Robinson argued it should have been a sin bin.

“Hit high and it wasn’t good for Blake obviously,” Robinson said.

“He hit him in the jaw but it wasn’t a swinging arm, open handed, was lower than shoulder height. If that’s the standard, that’s fine but that’s a new one for me.

“It’s lower than what’s been sent off before and it just feels like we can set a new standard here again.

“And then Rads’ one, Rads’ one was ridiculous. Connor (Watson) is the one that tackles him from behind and twists his ankle, and then he falls on that ankle. How they got to that decision, that’s incredible. That was below par.”

Radley was sin binned for this. Photo: Fox Sports

When pushed on Young’s send off, Robinson said: “Definitely sin bin, Blake’s got concussed from that. I don’t have all the send offs in mind going through my mind but we’ve had guys stay on the field, not even go for 10 for less.

“I feel like that was a bit over the top. If they come out and say that’s the new, there’s going to be a lot more send offs in our game.”

For the Young send off, Cooper Cronk said that Robinson was “defending his player”.

“I think the referees got the send off correct,” Cronk added.

James Graham added that Young “didn’t enter the tackle with any malice” but that the “horrific position” Taaffe was placed in contributed to the decision.

“I don’t know if the game can have those images and not send someone to the sin bin,” Graham said.

Graham said the hip drop from Radley “was bizarre”.

“We’ve seen way worse tackles than that not sent to the sin bin,” he added.

Got what it deserved. Photo: Fox Sports

But regardless, the result goes into the history books as a loss for the Roosters and five-eighth Luke Keary said the first half was “pretty embarrassing”.

Asked if he’d every played in a more dramatic game, Keary said the team were “embarrassed and disappointed” by the performance.

“Our effort, to turn up like that as a playing group, it’s not good enough,” he said.

“We need to have a good hard look at ourselves. There’s obviously a mental thing, not physical or talent. We need to sort it out quickly as a playing group.”

Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said it was “a weird one” but also praised the Roosters for their effort in the second half.

“They’re pretty hard to beat if they’ve got 12 men or 13,” he said.

He also said “the first thirty minutes was the best we’ve played”, adding the second half “was the worst we’ve played”.

Ciraldo said he hadn’t seen a replay of the send off, but added the Radley sin bin was “pretty harsh to be sin binned for”.