Canterbury Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has revealed his frustration with the officiating after several calls went against his side in their clash against the Wests Tigers on Saturday night.
In a match that featured multiple controversial moments, Ciraldo was irate when speaking following the club’s defeat.
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Asked about some of the big turning points in the contest such as the Josh Curran charge-down that was overturned by the Bunker and the Stephen Crichton no-try, Ciraldo didn’t hide his disappointment.
“No, not at all,” Ciraldo said in response to being asked if he was happy with the decisions that were made.
“I’m sending another email in this week and I get something written back. The Josh Curran one, maybe the charge down is gone.
“His foot did touch him, but Josh charged the ball down first and was chasing the kick and then Jarome’s foot hit him.
If that’s the way it is, I’ll cop that. Jarome clearly didn’t think it was a penalty because he turned and chased, but again, if the foot touches, okay.”
However, it was the decision to deny Crichton a try, Lachlan Galvin being held up and his fullback Jacob Kiraz being taken out that appeared to leave the Bulldogs coach most frustrated.
Speaking about it, Ciraldo questioned how the officials made the incorrect call.
“The more disappointing one was to go down the other end. Someone offside takes out our fullback, then that’s a try,’ Ciraldo added.
“What’s worse? Someone touches your foot or someone takes out your fullback and they score a try.
“Then there’s the other tries. They look like they were held up, but it’s a try. Critta gets over the line, looks very similar to that but it’s a no try.
“Galvin gets the ball clearly stripped right in front of the referee, no penalty. Stephen throws a guy down on the ground, the ball comes out, penalty.
“I think every coach feels like that to be honest. We all feel like that; we all feel aggrieved.”
Opposition coach Benji Marshall agreed with Ciraldo’s frustration, conceding that Curran’s charge-down on Jarome Luai should have stood, meaning it would have been counted as a four-pointer.
“Today, I thought we were a bit lucky with some of the calls. I thought the charge down was probably a try to be honest,” Marshall said.
“I like that we’re protecting kickers but I thought we dodged a bullet there to be honest.
“A couple of other calls we’ve been on the end of those as well and that hurts too, so I can imagine Cameron would have been in here talking about those.”
Originally published as ‘We feel aggrieved’: Cameron Ciraldo blasts officiating and fumes over series of ‘disappointing’ calls
