Phil Gould has flamed the referees following the final-second controversy in the Raiders-Dragons clash, declaring the whistleblowers “pedantic” and calling them out for being selective.
Canberra was left ropeable after referee Peter Gough didn’t award the Raiders a penalty in the dying stages of Sunday’s game in Wollongong, despite the fact Dragons captain Ben Hunt wasn’t square at marker when he tackled dummy-half Tom Starling.
The Raiders would have potted over a simple penalty goal to draw level with the Dragons and force the game to golden point, but they were instead helpless as the full-time siren blew, leaving them with a 12-10 defeat.
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“Tomorrow I’ll get an apology or there’ll be justification of there not being a penalty,” said Raiders coach Ricky Stuart in his post-match press conference.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley admitted faulted in his weekly briefing on Monday, saying Gough should have blown a penalty.
Gould blasted the referees — not just Gough — on Nine’s 100% Footy.
“Old bloke told me there’s a rule of thumb for refereeing and penalties,” Gould said.
“If you can’t give it in front of the posts at 12 all with a minute to go in a grand final, you shouldn’t be giving it at any time.
“You don’t pick and choose your time to do it based on the score or based on the situation in the game. Unfortunately a lot of penalties are like that.
“Our referees give away so many pedantic six-agains and penalties during the course of the game, but then will not go anywhere near a penalty for that same offence when it gets down to golden point or at the back end of the game when the result’s in the balance — and you cannot tell me any different.
“All the pedantic stuff we go through in the preliminary part of the game is for them to meet KPIs (key performance indicators) for the people who govern them as referees — not for the betterment of the game, not for the quality of the product.
“This is the refereeing part of the game that dominates a lot of what we view.”
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Gould said he’d been arguing his point “for years” and “got sick of saying it” because no one listened.
“They’re just going to keep letting things go the way they go, keep using technology and keep coming out with apologies on Monday morning,” Gould added.
“You cannot justify a lot of the penalties that we have in our game. The fans don’t know what it’s for, the players don’t know what it’s for. It’s so pedantic.
“But then we see a deliberate one in the last seconds of the game when the game’s in the balance. Hands in pockets. ‘No, I’m not going to blow that one’. We understand that. But if you can’t blow it then, don’t blow it at all — and we’ll have a better product. Trust me.”
Gould was challenged by Nine and Sydney Morning Herald journalist Michael Chammas.
“So you’re comfortable that that’s the standard?” Chammas said.
“That should be the way we referee? If it’s 50-50 play on?”
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Gould resumed his rant.
“There are so many 50-50 things that do not warrant any interference from the referee whatsoever. They just don’t,” Gould said.
“If we just play on and go we’ve forgotten about it in 10 seconds. Trust me, trust me.
“I’ve seen it. I’ve been watching it 45 years.”
The loss could cost the Raiders in their bid to snatch a top-eight berth.
St George Illawarra is placed eighth on the ladder after round 16, and Canberra is sitting 11th.
The Dragons will meet the Broncos in Brisbane on Sunday night, while the Raiders are set for a bye.
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