Furious Parramatta coach Brad Arthur slammed the NRL’s rulemakers after his side went down to an 18-16 defeat to Canterbury in controversial circumstances on Friday night.
A gripping contest ended in farcical scenes when a Chris Sandow try, two minutes from time, was chalked off after an 11-year-old ballboy threw the ball straight to Eels winger Vai Toutai for a quick restart instead of putting the ball on the sideline.
The incident occurred after had Sandow found touch from a 40-20 kick and Toutai then passed to the halfback from sideline after being handed the ball by the youngster .
Although the decision was, strictly speaking, correct, Arthur said it was wrong that such a big moment in the game should be decided by a ruling he claimed was flawed.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve seen players running down and getting the ballboy to throw it in and it’s play-on,” Arthur said.
“Vai actually passed the ball off the sideline. It’s a stupid rule.
“What more do they want us to do? Go up into the grandstand and pass it out of the grandstand?”
The defeat was a huge blow to the Eels’ finals hopes with high-flying Manly their next opponents before finishing their campaign with trips to Newcastle and Canberra.
“We’re going to have to make sure we win our next three to ensure we’re in the finals,” Arthur said.
“That’s all there is to it. We can say our piece now, but it ain’t going to help us. We need to move forward to improve a few little areas.”
Canterbury’s win ended a run of four successive losses and coach Des Hasler praised the character of his players who hung on for a much-needed win that moved them up for fifth on the ladder, despite being on the back foot for most of the second half.
“I was happy with the way we attacked, it was gutsy from both sides and it’s been a tough couple of weeks for the boys,” Hasler said.
“We stuck solid and played the kind of football that you need to to go set-to-set with a side like Parramatta.”
The sides scored three tries each with a Trent Hodkinson conversion proving the difference.
Greg Eastwood, Mitch Brown and Aiden Tolman crossed for the Bulldogs with Semi Radradra scoring twice for the Eels after Jarryd Hayne leapt above the Canterbury defence for his 18th try of the season.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Why is everybody so scared of quick taps? Every year the refs allow less and less of them as the year goes by. Just let play on, the more broken play the better.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
I have done a thorough investigation into this issue and found that the ball boy is a cherished nephew of Suzy the waitress ;-)
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
That is the smartest analysis I've seen. The players have an obligation to themselves to know the rules. It's not as if they don't have enough free time in their 52 week year to read and understand the rules which apply to their 26 week day job.
E-Meter
Guest
What rule? It doesn't exist. Ballboys aren't mentioned. Section 9.8 of Rugby League rules. Referees directing their incompetence on to kids. It doesn't get any lower.
Storm Boy
Guest
Only to the NRL does it make any sense! The 7 tackle rule was added to discourage kicking over the dead ball line to negate Slater and Hayne running back with the ball from kicks. But somewhere along the way the NRL without telling anyone or why expanded the rule before Rd 1 to apply it to all 20m tap sets. You also often see a team drop the ball in the field of play but when the ball then goes on into the ingoal or over the dead ball line the referees rule a 20m tap instead of a scrum or handover where the knock on happened!!!!!
johnnno1
Guest
As usual the refs were spineless. Every time there is a 40/20 they call it back. The rule is stupid though. Ballboys are going to "lose" the ball for the away team as they did in the manly v souths game.ball boys need to simply be told that they need to have a ball handy at all times but that they can pass it to the player as long as that player is picking it up from the sideline. They may be young but this rubbish of home team ball boys "losing" the ball needs to stop.
Storm Boy
Guest
That doesn't sound right SuperEel22 but even if it is Sandow didn't take the tap in line with where it went into the touch. So the referee should have called it back anyway. You can see the touch judge standing 5m upfield from where Sandow tapped it.
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
I think you should read the rule back. A tap kick can be made using any part of the leg from the KNEE to the toes.
Adam
Guest
No doubt. They also benefited from not having Reynolds. Played with more discipline and stuck to their strengths. I.e their forward game up the middle.
Andrew
Guest
I'm an eels supporter, but, it's NOT the ball boy fault or the ref! The eels had pretty of changes in the 2nd half, but they couldn't capitalize. No finals now eels! I'm still depressed haha. I need my mummy to rub vicks lotion on my chest..haha
speedy2460
Guest
Why should the refs be sacked when all they did was to enforce the rule. Its worse when they dont enforce the rules.
johnnno1
Guest
Not really. Dogs on the ropes with nothing to offer after cummins gave them first 4 penalties
johnnno1
Guest
Well, it wasn't in e spirit of the game. They might be kids but its not the first time this has happened to an away team as happened with souths v manly. As for last night, yes, he is a kid but he should have known his job is to put the ball on the line not throw it to a player. Althoughbthe eels player should have known not to ask for it.
Meesta Cool
Guest
Meesta Hayne is great in attack, but still being found out too many times in defence. The game is useless if you have no one to hate..lol
The Barry
Roar Guru
Shame that this stuff comes up. I thought that was a good tough game last night. The Dogs effort in the second half when they were starting every set from inside their 10 for about 20 minutes was outstanding. Over the past month they have ben pushing passes on early tackles and handing over heaps of possession. Last night they were patient and tough and ground through the game until momentum changed a bit. They've got a way to go before they're competing with the likes of Manly, Souths and Roosters but it was a big step in the right direction and good tough, semi final style footy. Parra also played very well.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Getting the ball back is reward enough for a 40/20. To get a tap within 20 metres of the try line with the defence not ready simply for a touch finding kick is outrageous. There was another area of inconsistency last night. When Hodkinson was pulled back by Pauli and bounced the ball over the line, Parra re-started play with a tap on the 20 and seven tackles. If Hodkinson had dropped it a metre short of the line, Parra would have started with a play the ball on the 10 metre line and only six tackles in the set. It doesn't make sense to me that the defensive team gets an extra 10 metres and an extra tackle for allowing the attacking team closer to scoring.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Gould was completely right to say it's ridiculous that a game played by 34 professional athletes can have a different outcome based on the actions of a 10 year old ball boy. The quick tap off the 40/20 is a shambles and must go, in fact just axe the quick taps altogether, they're so inconsistent it's pointless.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Another example of media stirring up people's emotions. We truly have poor coverage of our game.
djcooper
Roar Guru
You're exactly right storm boy. This also isn't even getting a mention on the radio. Thought they would analyse what happened before going off and blaming an 11 year old ball boy.
fiver
Guest
Gould was blowing up about the dumb rule re: ball boy, but he also said that why should the team get a quick tap just because they kicked a 40/20? The defence should be able to set themselves, or at least go back to a scrum.