COACH Cameron Ciraldo said Canterbury had become an “easy target” for referees after they sunk to their fourth consecutive loss, this time at the hands of the Dolphins.
The 44-12 result at Suncorp Stadium was powered by a Jamayne Isaako hat-trick and left the Bulldogs – considered premiership hotshots only a month ago – with just one victory from their last seven games.
“I watch the game and I don’t see us being that much more ill-disciplined than the opposition,” Ciraldo said at the post-match media conference.
“And sometimes I just can’t understand where those penalties come from.
“But there’s ones we’re totally in control but I feel like there’s ones where we’re just an easy target at the moment.
“Every time we have a chance to play that field position game, we’re applying pressure, we just don’t get rewarded for it.
“Whether someone lies down and holds their neck of whatever, we just find ourselves defending our tryline again.”
On the 36th-minute sin bin dismissal of Jacob Preston, Ciraldo said: “I don’t know what you want him to do.
“(Isaiaya) Katoa’s got the ball, he’s going to tackle him and then he releases it a millisecond before he hits him. I don’t understand it.
“I just mean a 6-2 penalty count and 5-0 restarts in that 40-minute period. I’m not watching the game thinking ‘we are so ill-disciplined here’ and we just get hammered by penalties.
“I just need to get clarification why we’re the most penalised side in those periods – especially inside 20. They’re massive momentum-swinging penalties.
“We’re working … the boys are working real hard to win that field position and then a bloke goes down and grabs his neck or you find a little offside penalty where the opposition’s been offside a number of times.
“They’re they things that we’re just not getting at the moment.”
The Bulldogs lost Matt Burton to virus before kick-off.
After Issako’s 24-point haul, coach Kristian Wolf said: “It’s the best game I’ve seen him play.”
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DOLPHINS 44 (Isaako 3 Cobbo 2 Marshall-King Bostock Nikorima tries Isaako 6 goals) beat CANTERBURY 12 (Salmon Crichton tries Crichton 2 goals) at Suncorp Stadium.
Teams:
DOLPHINS: Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow; Jamayne Isaako, Jack Bostock, Herbie Farnworth, Selwyn Cobbo; Kodi Nikorima, Isaiaya Katoa (c); Tom Flegler, Max Plath, Francis Molo, Connelly Lemuelu, Kuli Finefeuiaki, Morgan Knowles. Res: Brad Schneider, Ray Stone, Tom Gilbert, Felise Kaufusi, Jeremy Marshall-King, Tevita Naufahu.
CANTERBURY: Connor Tracey; Jonathan Sua, Bronson Xerri, Stephen Crichton (c), Enari Tuala; Sean O’Sullivan, Lachlan Galvin; Sam Hughes, Bailey Hayward, Leo Thompson, Sitili Toupounoua, Jacob Preston, Jaeman Salmon. Res: Alek Jones, Harry Hayes, Josh Curran, Lipoi Hopoi, Jethro Winakama, Logan Spinks.
Referee: Grant Atkins.
