In the wake of a challenging NRL matchup on Good Friday, Canterbury Bulldogs head coach Cameron Ciraldo has questioned the legitimacy of the penalty count against his team during their loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
The Bulldogs, who faced an erratic game where they fell behind initially, managed to rally for a lead but ultimately crumbled in the late stages before a crowd of 45,000 fans.
Despite turning over the ball 17 times and Ciraldo's puzzling choice to substitute Sean O'Sullivan for the injured Stephen Crichton instead of Bronson Xerri during the second half, the coach's focus shifted to the penalties.
The final tally was 8-2 in favor of South Sydney, prompting Ciraldo to express his frustration at a post-game press conference, hinting that the situation may have been out of their control.
"I'd be silly not to [talk to the NRL about the penalties]," Ciraldo remarked.
"We've got to learn from it. There's probably some things in there that we can control and do better, but there's probably a few we could have got as well I reckon at some stage."
"I'm going to have to have a look at them, but I'm not sure how much of it we could control."
"The fact you're asking me if they're contentious probably means they are, but I don't know, I'm sitting up in the box."
"The reality is we got penalised six or seven times in the second half. They completed 24 sets straight, so they did a great job with that. And we had no possession, no field position."