St George Illawarra boss Peter Doust has called on the NRL to award his club two competition points as the Dragons continue to fume following their heartbreaking loss to Melbourne on Monday night.
Doust has written to NRL head of football Todd Greenberg demanding an explanation after referees’ boss Tony Archer admitted his officials had made a blunder in allowing the match to continue after the full-time siren had sounded. That allowed the Storm to score a match-winning try against a Dragons side who hadn’t won in Melbourne since 1999.
Doust has taken the unprecedented step of requesting the NRL consider reversing the match result and hand the Dragons the victory, which would see the Storm stripped of their two competition points. While this has never occurred in rugby league, the AFL controversially changed a result when they took a victory off St Kilda in 2006 in similar circumstances when the match officials did not hear the siren and allowed the Saints to kick a match-winning goal against Fremantle. Fremantle were later given the result.
“I have brought that subject up,” Doust said of asking for the two competition points.
“One would be saying that would be a precedent. If we did something wrong that affected the outcome of the game, would we lose the two points? If you come at it from the other direction, the NRL haven’t had difficulty taking points off teams.
“I have lodged a formal request to have the whole matter investigated. I feel for not only our players, I feel for everybody that has committed to the Dragons brand; that are subjected to such disappointment and depression.”
The Dragons, played the final 25 seconds with 12 men. Back-rower Joel Thompson had been taken from the field midway through the second half for a concussion test, and under the new NRL rules the Dragons would have been allowed a free interchange if Thompson was to return within 15 minutes.
However Thompson was unable to make it back on the field and the Dragons had used up all of their 10 interchanges.
“If we ignored that and left 13 players on there and that stopped a try, would they take the points off us?” Doust said. “We do understand the human element of the management of our game. There should be a better process that is more definite in terms of the time and siren.
“It’s not an intuitive, or an interpretative decision - it’s time, siren, end. The game should’ve been over.
“If I’m expressing a view in the overall in the interests of the game, let's see them improve the process. If we get to the end of the season and those two points are relevant, what are we going to think then?”
A furious St George Illawarra coach Steve Price expressed his disbelief at watching his side lose.
“I’ve watched it a number of times and my coaching staff and my players feel that the ball hadn’t been played before the siren had played,” Price said. “It’s hard to cop. I’ve got a number of players really hurting. What do you say to them?”
The loss leaves the Dragons outside the eight for the first time this year having won three consecutive games to start the year before losing their last three.
“They’ve got to get it right,” Price said of the match officials. “It’s two competition points. We could be sitting top four or top five now. It’s tough to swallow. I’m not happy about it. It’s boiling inside me.”
The loss was compounded with concerns that centre Dylan Farrell could miss the rest of the season with a torn pectoral. Farrell will have scans on Wednesday.
