Interim Canterbury Bulldogs coach Mick Potter has questioned the decision to sin bin Aaron Schoupp during a crucial stage of his team’s loss to the Wests Tigers, saying the centre’s tackle was “unintentional”.
Potter’s men fought valiantly in his first match in charge of the Bulldogs since Trent Barrett quit the club during the week, but the Tigers prevailed 36-22 winners at Leichhardt Oval.
It looked like being a long evening for the Bulldogs when the Tigers piled on three straight tries in the first half to take an 18-0 lead into the sheds before the match was turned on its head after the break.
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However, Potter’s side was inspired after half-time, scoring three tries in a scintillating 12-minute stretch to draw to within two points.
The Bulldogs had all the momentum when Schoupp was placed on report and sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle on Tigers fullback Starford To’a in the 61st minute.
The call proved to be pivotal, with the Tigers scoring virtually seconds later through Fa’amanu Brown, who scored his first tries since Round 16, 2018.
Jock Madden added a second try seven minutes later, virtually sealing the contest before Schoupp’s return to the field after 10 minutes in the sin bin.
When asked about the Schoupp sin-binning after the match, Potter let out a frustrated laugh and voiced his concerns over the call.
“It was an unintentional play,” he said.
“He (Schoupp) let go of the player when he got him in a bad position. I don’t see what else the player could do.
“It wasn’t a professional foul, I don’t understand why it was a sin bin.”
Despite his frustration over the sin-binning of Schoupp, Potter admitted that his side needed to be more disciplined after conceding 11 penalties to four.
“Our discipline needs to change,” he said.
“We made a few errors there that we need to rectify. If we fix up our discipline we won’t have point scored against us down there. We should be able to defend our line, we shouldn’t allow cheap points.”
Schoupp did offer his side a glimmer of hope, scoring a 73rd minute try just minutes after his return to the field, but it proved to be a case of too little, too late.
Potter also made headlines prior to his first match in charge, bringing $2.2 million off-season recruit Tevita Pangai Jr off the bench.
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While the move proved to be inspired, with Pangai Jr setting up Matt Burton’s try to start the Bulldogs’ second-half comeback, the interim coach suggested that the bench move would not be a permanent one.
The bottom-placed Bulldogs will face the Dragons at home next weekend, while the Wests Tigers will travel to Accor Stadium to take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs.