Flanagan bewildered by costly Dragons kick-off penalty
Tom Wark |
Shane Flanagan has questioned a crucial call in St George Illawarra’s 30-18 loss to Cronulla, saying he was amazed his side were penalised over a kick-off breach.
Down 24-18 with eight minutes to go on Thursday, the Dragons went for a short kick-off as their only chance to turn around a torrid second half.
Standing beyond the 40-metre line, Dragons centre Moses Suli jumped up and batted the ball back for St George Illawarra to regain possession.
But Suli was penalised, with referee Grant Atkins ruling the ball did not go the required 10 metres and pass the 40-metre line before he contacted it.
The resulting penalty ensured the Sharks were never threatened as they ran out 30-18 winners over the Dragons to extend their derby winning streak to 10.
“There were some decisions I was amazed at,” Flanagan said.
He suggested the evidence of the ball crossing the 10 metre threshold was irrefutable when summing up the moment that condemned his side to their second straight loss.
“There’s a red line there that’s called the 40-metre line and Moses Suli was on the other side of the 40-metre line,” Flanagan said.
While the decision to deny his side the ball in attacking field position was frustrating, Flanagan conceded it was the inability to deal with Braydon Trindall’s kicking game that ultimately cost the Dragons.
The Dragons conceded three tries in 10 minutes to give up an 18-12 halftime lead with winger Tyrell Sloan particularly susceptible to Trindall’s towering kicks.
Flanagan said the winger was down on confidence, after he was dropped last week but left without a game with the Dragons’ reserve-grade side having a bye.
Sloan was recalled for the match against the Sharks with fellow winger Christian Tuipulotu injured and Mat Feagai also out.
Flanagan suggested one option could be to give Sloan time in reserve grade next week while the Dragons’ NRL side have a bye to help rebuild his confidence.
“Confidence is probably something that he is down on a little bit at the moment,” Flanagan said.
“We’ve got to find it, he’s got to find it.
“(The Sharks) ran a little bit harder in the second half and got good field position, and then all their kicks were contestable kicks.
“You’ve got to be better defensively and make them kick long and they didn’t kick long, they were all contested kicks and we didn’t handle the contested kicks.”
AAP
