Parramatta coach Jason Ryles should take a bow for the maturity he showed in his post-match press conference after he refused to blame the officials for a series of controversial calls that went against his side, instead choosing to agree with three key decisions.
A controversial string of penalties against Tallyn da Silva in the final few minutes helped the Bulldogs to a thrilling 14-12 victory over Parramatta in a game that threatened to produce no points.
A dour first half had fans dreaming of the 1982 classic between Newtown and Canterbury that famously finished scoreless, but both teams ruined that with back-to-back tries to set up a grandstand finish.
Bronson Xerri bombed a try with 11 minutes to go when he threw a ball forward with an unmarked winger, with the Eels then looking most likely to break the 12-all deadlock.
A fantastic Ronald Volkman kick and Jordan Samrani chase led to a line dropout, but the Eels were denied field position when the Bulldogs were awarded a penalty for a da Silva escort on Sitili Tupouniua.
The Bulldogs did their best to throw it away when Matt Burton put in a grubber kick with six minutes to go rather than attempting a field goal.
But the Bulldogs five-eighth earned a reprieve when he stayed down and was awarded a penalty by the bunker who spotted a high shot by da Silva which skipper Stephen Crichton slotted from 41 metres out to go and just three minutes remaining.
“They’ve made it pretty clear that he can’t do what he did on the dropout, regardless of whether you’re looking at the ball or whatever,” Ryles said, deserving credit in an era where plenty of coaches blame officials for losses.
“If it’s 50-50, just back your catcher to catch it.”
“With the second one, if you slow everything down enough then you’ll find what you found in that tackle. I think he did make contact with his head.”
“Those are the rules.”
It was a crucial win for the Bulldogs who have had major attacking issues in recent weeks, although Monday’s performance was still concerning given they had 64 per cent of the territory yet still came up with fundamental errors whenever they shifted it wide.
“Our basic skills were a little bit off in a number of areas,” Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said.
“There’s clearly a little bit of confidence (lost) down there.
“They (Lachlan Galvin and Matt Burton) are the most scrutinised halves pairing in the competition. Our halfback is 20 and he has to hear a lot of commentary on how he’s going.
“There was a lot of tension around the whole thing.”
Sitili Season
Tupouniua has been their best player all season and he again came up with some big plays to help the Bulldogs get over the line. He was somehow denied a try early in the second half, but he got his revenge a few moments later when he charged onto a Lachlan Galvin short ball to score.
With the deadlock finally broken, the Bulldogs kicked clear when Connor Tracey kicked for Crichton to fly through the air for another try which should have seen them cruise home.
Hammer Blow
A crucial call on the stroke of half-time could have changed the entire complexion of the contest had the Eels been awarded a try to Joash Papalii.
The Bulldogs were working it off their own line when Jacob Kiraz threw a shocking pass that Lachlan Galvin tried to soccer to himself, only for the playmaker to drop the ball.
The Steeden then pinballed around and ended up with the Eels as Papalii raced away to score, only for the bunker to rule that Galvin dropped it and then regathered which meant the play was dead.
“To the letter of the law, once he regains the ball, the ball’s dead,” Ryles said.
“That’s my understanding, but I could be wrong. I was disappointed that he regained control, but I would love for the bunker to disappear sometimes.”
It was a tough call for Parramatta who also have edge forward Kelma Tuilagi on report for raised bumpers which caught Josh Curran in the throat. They did well just to be in the contest with da Silva scoring after a Josh Addo-Carr break, while rookie Teancum Brown broke free to set up Papalii to make it two tries in as many sets.
