Bulldogs skipper James Graham was placed on report for lashing out at his English teammate and longtime adversary Sam Burgess as Canterbury's late-season spiral continued on Friday night.
Minutes after Burgess had rifled out of the line in an attempt to lay a shot on him, the Bulldogs firebrand appeared to strike out with his left boot at the former Clive Churchill Medal winner in an ugly aftermath to a second-half tackle.
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James Graham aims kick at Burgess
A running battle between Sam Burgess and James Graham ended with the Bulldogs captain aiming a kick after taking exception to his England teammate.
Burgess had launched himself at the near stationary Bulldogs skipper being held up in a tackle by two other Rabbitohs defenders – reviving memories of last week's Ryan James "prowler" tackle on Panthers prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard.
Campbell-Gillard was only discharged from a Gold Coast hospital on Friday with a broken back and is out for the rest of the season.
Graham flung his left boot in the direction of Burgess after the awkward tackle, but didn't make contact.
It didn't stop referee Ashley Klein putting Graham on report with the match review committee to decide on Saturday whether the 30-year-old will face a charge before the Bulldogs' first final, destined to be against western Sydney rivals Penrith.
One of his opponents at ANZ Stadium, South Sydney prop Nathan Brown, escaped sanction for stomping on the groin of Agnatius Paasi while carrying the ball earlier this year, which will at least give Bulldogs fans cause for optimism.
Graham's temper finally frayed, having outwardly launched a string of verbal volleys and pointing angrily at Burgess after the earlier incident, not far from the same patch of turf where Graham busted his foe's cheekbone on the first tackle of the memorable 2014 grand final.
And his response to lash out at Burgess happened only metres away from his crooked finger blow-up during last year's "Bad Friday" clash between the sides.
It was hardly surprising given his incredible pre-game dressing room rev-up of teammates before the final match of the regular season – and captured by Channel 9 cameras.
Burgess and fellow English international Joe Burgess scored the Rabbitohs' two first-half tries, condemning the Bulldogs to a third straight defeat on the eve of the finals.
Canterbury lock David Klemmer is also likely to come under the match-review microscope after an innocuous shoulder charge inside the last two minutes.
As an honour to soon-to-be-construction guru Sam Perrett, bright yellow hard hats were being shopped everywhere on the night. The retiring Perrett's Bulldogs teammates would have done well to grab a few on the way out in preparation for Des Hasler's video review this week.
And in reality The House That Des Built is in need of a renovation. And fast. Whatever patch-up job or cosmetic makeover he is trying at the moment isn't working. Anything other than a major reconstruction is in order if they are to threaten in the finals.
Unlike their conquerors South Sydney – who despite little more than pride to play for and a four-game winning run to make Mad Monday's beers taste a little sweeter – the Bulldogs had everything to play for.Â
But they have been very un-Hasler like for this time of year. Staggering rather than surging into September, only one of the Hasler's most zany experiments can seemingly land Canterbury on the first Sunday in October again and a third grand final appearance in five years.
Having hauled themselves to within two after Josh Reynolds' 80-metre heads-up play to deflect a John Sutton grubber into his own path, Graham's tired effort at the end of a mazy Aaron Gray run with eight minutes left sealed their fate before the South Sydney centre bagged a late double.
Joe Burgess also got in on the act with a second, but the post-mortem will all be about his compatriot wearing blue and white.
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