Video evidence clearns the Bulldogs of playing with an extra man
By Dan Koch
March 23, 2009
Fears an interchange mix-up could rob the Bulldogs of the competition points they earned from Saturday night's nail-biting win over Penrith have been allayed.
NRL officials will meet to review video evidence which will apparently clear the club of fielding an extra man.
The NRL's chief operating officer, Graham Annesley, said he was obliged to investigate claims that the Bulldogs had breached the NRL's strict interchange policy in the
dying minutes of their last-gasp win.
The speculation was first raised by commentators from broadcaster Fox Sports and centred on the apparent confusion which preceded five-eighth Ben Roberts replacing captain Andrew Ryan late in the game.
"At that time the game was still very much in the balance, so my focus wasn't on the interchange," Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore said.
"There was a bit of confusion down there about who was going on and coming off. I had basically sent a message down to three or four guys who I thought might be struggling to see if anyone needed to come off. But we didn't hear anything about there possibly being an extra man on there until we were back in the sheds after the match."
In the meantime, Roberts had crossed for the try which set up sharp-shooter Hazem El Masri's match-winning conversion.
Annesley said he was seeking reports from both the interchange official and ground manager, though neither had reported any breach before the accusation being aired.
The drama overshadowed Moore's second straight win as Bulldogs head coach. It was an exciting match but littered with errors.
The Bulldogs travel to the Gold Coast this week to tackle the Titans on Friday night.
The Titans were beaten 16-10 after a powerful display by St George Illawarra at Win Stadium on Saturday night.
While their attack lacked fluency, their discipline and strength on both sides of the ball proved too much for the Titans, who looked flat from the outset.
Elsewhere, star Brisbane centre Justin Hodges and Rabbitohs speedster Nathan Merritt look set to headline another lengthy list of charges issued by the match review panel today as the NRL's crackdown on dangerous play continues.
Five of the 10 charges laid after last week's opening round fell under the league's new wide-ranging dangerous conduct, introduced primarily to eradicate the use of wrestling and jiu-jitsu locks and holds in the ruck area.
Having missed eight weeks from two separate suspensions last year, Hodges will come under scrutiny for an ugly cross-face "grapple" on Melbourne captain Cameron Smith in Friday night's Broncos-Storm encounter. It was not dissimilar to the one which earned Parramatta backrower Weller Hauraki a two-week ban.
Merritt, however, will almost certainly be the first player charged for a feet-first challenge on Parramatta winger Joel Reddy in the 61st minute of
the Eels' win on Friday night.
The incident occurred as Reddy dived over the tryline to score and it left the young Eel bleeding from the mouth.
It appeared to be a copybook example of what Storm full-back Billy Slater used late last season and officials moved quickly to outlaw it.
Other players facing an anxious wait include Wests Tigers pair Benji Marshall and Bryce Gibbs and Storm winger Anthony Quinn, who was placed on report for lifting his forearm at Brisbane prop Sam Thaiday as he looked to make a tackle 15 minutes into Friday night's game.
Incidents involving Marshall and Gibbs for allegedly dropping knees on to their North Queensland opponents in Saturday night's match at Dairy Farmers Stadium have been flagged for review.
Marshall earned a stern rebuke from feisty Cowboy pivot Travis Burns but not the referee after collecting the former Sea Eagle.
Gibbs, though, was not so lucky. He was penalised and placed on report for a crude shot on Cowboys forward Matt Scott to rub further salt into the wound left by the home side's 42-14 demolition job.
