Flanagan furious over NRL refs calls
Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan warned careers were in danger of being cut short by refereeing clangers as he took aim at the men running the sidelines after the Sharks’ top four NRL spot was left in jeopardy on Sunday.
Flanagan was dirty at several calls he claimed went against his side in their 18-10 loss to St George Illawarra – the defeat opening up the opportunity for South Sydney to jump up to fourth on the ladder should they beat Sydney Roosters on Monday night.
On the back a relentless few weeks for the men with the whistle, Flanagan said sideline officials were almost immune to criticism despite making three calls in a ten-minute stretch late in the loss to the Dragons which he claimed changed the course of the game.
The first involved a Wade Graham pass for Anthony Tupou to score which was called forward before first Ben Hornby, from a line drop-out, and then Matt Cooper, in the match-sealing try to Trent Merrin, appeared to be guilty of knock-ons.
“I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired of those types of things happening in our game,” Flanagan said.
“Once again I don’t think it was the two blokes in the middle – it was the two blokes on the side that called that one.
“If that didn’t go forward – the Cooper one – I’m a bad judge.”
Dragons coach Steve Price was definitive on how he judged the Cooper call.
“That clearly went backwards,” said Price.
Flanagan didn’t mince his words in highlighting the importance of the calls.
“They decide careers in the end – we’re talking about coaching careers, players career, fans’ seasons, top four – there’s a lot that goes into it,” said Flanagan.
“I know they (the referees) understand that, it’s tough sometimes when you’re sitting on this side of the table when you’ve lost a game.”
Asked if he feared a refereeing error deciding a big game, Flanagan said:
“I hope not … what’s a big game, a big game’s every week for me.
“Today was a big game for us, a big game for the Dragons.”
The Dragons stayed two points out of the top eight with the win, and while a Rabbitohs win could drop the Sharks to fifth, another loss next week could drop them as low as eight.
“It’s really important, we’ve been there nearly all year,” Flanagan said of finishing in the top four.
“It comes down to the important part at the end of then season, we don’t want to stuff it up.
“Over the next couple of weeks there’s some sides above us and around us that play each other, but in the end we’ll just concentrate on our own job.”
The Dragons got some breathing space on Canberra, who failed tom pick up two points in a 38-26 home loss to Gold Coast, who are tied with the Raiders on 18 points.
© AAP 2013The Crowd Says (6) | Page 1 of Comments
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July 16th 2012 @ 1:00pm
dishes said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:00pm | Report comment
No doubt every 50/50 call in the last 2 games has gone against the Sharks. However our lack of spark in attack is still a bit of a worry.
July 16th 2012 @ 1:20pm
Gino said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
Stop complaining there was a forward pass from the sharks, flannigan always has something to say when sharks lose. You lost get over it
July 16th 2012 @ 1:27pm
B.A Sports said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:27pm | Report comment
As a neutral obesrver i thought the pass from Graham to Tupou was forward.
My frustration in that game was that the Dragons seemed to get away with lying on the tackled play long after the call of “held”. They weren’t making any effort to get up and got away with it all day. Very frustrating
July 16th 2012 @ 3:05pm
SamClench said | July 16th 2012 @ 3:05pm | Report comment
Don’t blame the bloke for being angry. But he shouldn’t waste his energy whining, it won’t change anything.
July 16th 2012 @ 3:21pm
JVGO said | July 16th 2012 @ 3:21pm | Report comment
Tupou pass was obviously forward I agree but then the Saints winning try also had a knock on and a forward pass in it. Just some consistency please. The refs are a mess across the board. Flanagan is right to keep the pressure on because they are prone to take the path of least resistance. If we are dudded next week i will ramp up the conspiracy theory, but it is against Canberra, we are at home and itis our turn so I expect things weill turn our way.
July 17th 2012 @ 9:00am
turbodewd said | July 17th 2012 @ 9:00am | Report comment
Where is Harrigan or Grant?! Why dont they come out and tell these coaches to shutup and defend the refs. Constant, and i mean constant, berating of ref performances filters down to the juniors. And it wont improve ref confidence either.
I am also sick of captains questioning every 3rd or 4th ruling. Captains shouldnt be allowed to hold up the game. And refs should only address players by their number for professionalism purposes.