The Goulburn Workers Bulldogs executive has written to the league expressing its concern over the state of refereeing in last Saturday’s match with the Belconnen United Scholars.
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The club believes player safety was, to an extent, neglected during the second half of a heated exchange at Northbourne Oval, which ended in a 26-all draw. Secretary Joe Stephens signed the letter addressed to the Canberra Region Rugby League’s executive officer Karen Ebsworth.
Goulburn Post analysis detected five conclusive high tackles or grapples in the second half alone. Two were penalised while one left Bulldogs forward Adam Antony concussed.
Coach James Aubusson is adamant the letter is not an act of sour grapes. The Bulldogs gave up a 22-0 halftime lead en route to sharing the points with the defending premiers.
Player safety, or a lack thereof, is the motive behind the club’s move.
“[High tackles] are not what we stand for, that’s not what we train for,” he said.
“We don’t want that sort of play in our game and it’s not the look we’re after.” Saturday’s discontent follows an eye-gouging allegation from Goulburn’s May 11 match with the Queanbeyan Kangaroos.
The player involved chose not to proceed with a formal allegation of foul play on that occasion.
Aubusson knows the officials’ decisions had little to do with Saturday’s result. The Bulldogs were their own worst enemy. The visitors’ edge defence on both sides was opened up no fewer than five times in the second half.
Individual errors compounded missed tackles.
The playing group has long moved on from last weekend’s outing, Aubusson says.
Their attention is firmly on tomorrow’s match with the competition’s surprise packet, the Woden Valley Rams.
The Bulldogs haven’t lost since their season opener against the Queanbeyan Blues. And while much of the Dogs’ attention span has been sapped by grand finalists the Kangaroos and Scholars in the last month, it’s likely the little-talked-about Rams will pose a bigger threat than their more recognisable rivals.
“This weekend’s going to be super tough,” Aubusson continued.
“We’ve found a bit of safety in sitting second, but we’ve got to keep momentum going.”
The on-field momentum gathered since round one is at risk of fading courtesy of representative fixtures and a general bye.
From 5.50pm tomorrow, Aubusson’s men won’t hear another full-time siren for 527 hours.
Their next match is against the Gungahlin Bulls on June 16.
The 22 day void will be filled by two onfield training sessions a week and gymnasium hit outs of a Wednesday.
Tomorrow’s 4pm Canberra Raiders Cup fixture caps a Workers Arena rugby league gala. The Gordon Highlanders tackle the University of Canberra Cows at 11.30am, the under 18s kick-off their match with the Rams at 1pm and reserve grade takes the field at 2.30pm.
