Bulldogs coach Des Hasler says the match officials got it wrong by sending Brenko Lee to the sin bin in a decision that ultimately cost his side the victory against the Wests Tigers on Sunday.
The decision to bin Lee with 12 minutes remaining for denying Chris Lawrence a chance to compete for a James Tedesco grubber proved costly for the Bulldogs, who led by two points at the time.
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Tigers win ends turbulent week
A late Kevin Naiqama try ended the Bulldogs' three match winning streak.
The Tigers took the penalty goal on offer and, thanks to a fortuitous ricochet off Josh Jackson eight minutes later, Kevin Naiqama cleaned up the scraps from a Luke Brooks grubber to seal an 18-12 win.
"I thought the penalty was probably warranted," Hasler said. "But not a sin bin, I don't think. The two points and the kick at penalty goal, but not a sin bin."
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It was a brain explosion from Bulldogs lock Greg Eastwood, who decided to kick the ball on the third tackle with the scores locked at 12-12, that provided the Tigers with the opportunity to claim victory.
"We were dumb, we were just dumb in some areas," Hasler said. "Given the weight of possession, field position was always critical. I just thought we gave up field position too easily and too early in the tackle count ... Late there in the game we kick on tackle three [Eastwood] with seven tackles and the clock was winding down. I thought the 10-minute on the sin bin was harsh. Very harsh."
After a week in which the Tigers withdrew its contracts to Tedesco and skipper Aaron Woods, finally there was some good news. Brooks played his first game of the Ivan Cleary regime and looked rejuvenated after a hamstring injury suffered in round four.
In fact, it was the first time Cleary had the opportunity to see what the big four could do together, or perhaps see what he would be missing at the end of the season.
Cleary knows it's going to take time for this team to eradicate the problems that have dogged them for years. Patience has never been their strong suit, regularly taking the prettier option than the smart one. But after just three games, Cleary's imprint has started to show.
Their halves were happy to find touch and chew down the clock, a positive for a team that tended to fall away the longer the game went.
They also took the penalty goals when they presented themselves, resisting the urge to make the big play for an option they wouldn't have considered earlier in the year.
The Tigers opened the account through David Nofoaluma, capitalising on a well-executed cut-out pass from Tedesco to take a 6-0 lead. The Bulldogs hit back through Marcelo Montoya, before the Tigers regained the lead through a penalty goal to Mitchell Moses.
On half-time the Tigers doubled their lead through the boot of Moses, only for the Bulldogs to produce arguably the try of the season with a 12-pass interchange to send Kerrod Holland over in the corner.
While the Bulldogs winger missed the conversion, he put his side out to a two-point lead a few minutes later when he landed a close-range penalty goal in front of a crowd of 19,303 at ANZ Stadium.
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