Following their qualifying final loss to the Storm, Canterbury Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has fired up over the officiating of the contest, admitting that his club had “zero luck”.
Although they struggled with multiple injury issues, Ciraldo wasn’t happy after the eighty minutes due to the side not receiving any calls from the referees, compared to their opponents.
Speaking after the match, Ciraldo decided to remain tight-lipped when asked about some of the decisions that went against his side from the referee.
“You need a bit of luck but we got none tonight,” Ciraldo said.
“I was probably hoping you’d ask me that question ten minutes ago and then I calmed down and thought about not getting myself in trouble.
“I’m not getting myself in trouble. The good thing was that we came down here three weeks ago and you know the rules of engagement after that.
“I should just shut my mouth but I think that at half-time the play the ball was half a second slower but we were the ones getting penalised for slow rucks, so I wasn’t happy about that.”
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 12: Ativalu Lisati of the Storm celebrates with team mates after scoring a try during the NRL Qualifying Final match between the Melbourne Storm and Canterbury Bulldogs at AAMI Park on September 12, 2025, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
While he didn’t go into details, one of the incidents Ciraldo was referring to was when back-rower Viliame Kikau got penalised for a high tackle on Josh King – the Storm subsequently kicked a two-point penalty goal.
“The two points, high tackle penalty in the first half, I was disappointed in that,” Ciraldo said.
“And then we gain some ascendancy there in the second half and there was a crusher penalty coming off their own try line – I was even more unhappy about that.
“You need a bit of luck in there and we got zero tonight.”