A controversial bunker ruling left Bulldogs players in disbelief and coach Cameron Ciraldo on Saturday as they were denied a crucial try against the Wests Tigers.
The Bulldogs were trailing by 10 points when Jarome Luai looked to clear the ball away from incoming defenders, but his kick was charged down by rival forward Josh Curran.
Curran wasted no time running onto the ball and collected it thanks to a perfect bounce, then sprinted towards the corner to eventually score a much-needed try.
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“Smart recognition,” Michael Ennis, a former Bulldogs captain, said on Fox League.
“He positions his body perfectly away from the leg – oh, has he brushed his foot?”
Josh Curran charges down a Jarome Luai kick. Fox League
Luai was unable to catch his opponent after his kick was charged down but the Bunker was unsure of Curran’s slight contact with his foot in the lead-up to the try.
A review into the try was conducted and the Bunker found that Curran had made contact with the leg of Luai, but he was not injured by the act.
Despite this, the Bunker ruled there was still “an elevated risk of injury” to Luai, meaning that the try had been denied, Curran was put on report and a penalty was awarded.
“That is so unfortunate for Curran,” Ennis said.
“It is probably one of the first times we have no seen a kicker go down, and it was the fact that Luai doesn’t go to the ground that it was allowed to play on.”
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Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo speaks to media alongside Stephen Crichton. Fox League
Bulldogs coach Ciraldo could not hide his frustrations with the call post-match, admitting that he and the club would “send another email” to understand the ruling.
He then revealed he feels “maybe the charge down is gone” from the modern game.
“His foot did touch him but Josh charged the ball down first and was chasing the kick, then Jarome’s foot hit him,” he told reporters.
“If that is the way it is, I’ll cop that. But Jarome clearly didn’t think it was a penalty because he turned and chased. Again, if the foot touches, OK.
“The more disappointing one was to go down the other end where someone is offside and takes out our fullback. What is worse? Someone touching your foot or taking out your fullback then scoring a try?”
Minutes before Curran’s try was denied, Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton and young playmaker Lachlan Galvin were caught in a small dispute over a captain’s challenge.
Galvin had been pinged for a knock-on but he did not agree with the ruling, pleading with his captain that the ball had been stripped out of his hands.
Lachlan Galvin pleads with Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton to make a captain’s challenge. Fox League
Crichton immediately shook his head and declared he would not be challenging the ruling, much to Galvin’s discontent. As more teammates weighed in on the decision, the NSW centre changed his mind but it was too late.
To add salt to the wounds of the Bulldogs poor errors, the Tigers were then awarded a try despite Kiraz being taken out of the play due to a collision with Sunia Turuva.
“They are being punished now by a bit of luck and fortunate for the Tigers,” Ennis said.
“But the Tigers are holding on by the skin of their teeth.”
Curran later gave away another two points to his opponents due to being pinged for an offside call. That call did not shatter the spirits of his teammate, though.
Lachlan Galvin, who was booed by his former club’s fans each time he touched the ball, muscled over from close range to put his team back in the contest, trailing 22-16.
A desperate comeback attempt by the visitors could not see any further points put on the board, much to the joy of Tigers fans.
Ciraldo, on the other hand, despite being down, had some words of praise for his team.
“I think every coach feels (aggrieved) but what I do know is that I have a very tough football team,” he said.
“What they are going through right now, we have some guys not playing and other guys who are playing with injuries. The mental toughness, too, with those decisions that go against them time after time after time, our guys just get on with their jobs and keep playing to the best of their ability.
“We are not winning on the scoreboard right now, but we are winning in a lot of areas that we want to pride ourselves on. If we keep training the way we are, eventually the scoreboard will turn around.
“I am very proud of them.”
Earlier, a “sloppy” pass by the Bulldogs was picked up by Faaletino Tavana who got a quick pass into Sunia Turuva to make a break away and get the Tigers in strong position.
Two tackles later, the visitors struggled to get their defensive line in order which caused a gap to open up out wide, leaving Jeral Skelton to score the first try with little pressure.
An error by Leo Thompson opened up the next chance for the Tigers to score, with Jock Madden popping up a pinpoint kick for Tavana to leap for. Jacob Kiraz was ready to stop the Tigers winger from grounding the ball and scoring, but he was unsuccessful.
Faaletino Tavana celebrates with teammates after scoring a try. Getty
Tigers fans made it clear that they were not having it with Galvin returning to his old stomping ground, booing the young playmaker each time he touched the ball.
To add to the pressure that was already on him and the Bulldogs, Kai Pearce-Paul scored.
But the Bulldogs eventually found their moment to strike via Kiraz, who collected an offload from Sitili Tupouniua, busted through a tackle, ran 25 metres and toppled over Jahream Bula to bring the scores to 16-6.
A successful conversion had the Bulldogs in high spirits and a penalty for a shoulder charge on Thompson by Alex Twal only heightened the team’s belief to go further.
Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton is held up in goal. Fox League
Crichton looked all but certain to have scored a try on the stroke of half time, however, the Bunker was unsure if he had correctly grounded the ball over the line.
“He doesn’t get the footy down at the start,” Michael Ennis said on Fox League.
It then became clear that Jahream Bula was the man of the moment for the Tigers, having made a try-saving tackle to keep Crichton off the ground without scoring.