Shane Flanagan fumes at referees in press conference, video, Bulldogs vs Dragons highlights

Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has teed off at the refereeing in Sunday’s controversial loss to the Bulldogs, declaring the game was “not decided in the right way”.

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Having entered the game as rank outsiders, the Red V fell just short in golden point after the Bulldogs were gifted strong field position courtesy of a strip penalty ruled against the Dragons.

That was not the only decision Flanagan took issue with, however, with the Dragons coach telling reporters after the 15-14 loss that there “six or seven” calls he did not agree with.

“The effort and attitude was outstanding and credit to the Bulldogs they got the field goal right but I felt that maybe a draw was probably the right decision today,” Flanagan said.

“It’s a tricky one because I think the NRL’s done an outstanding job. The week’s just been fantastic. Every promotion we’ve had to do, the Fremont Street and everything and then the game just decided like that. It’s disappointing.”

It was clear that Flanagan’s frustration was only exacerbated by the fact his team had defended so valiantly, with the Bulldogs having 41 tackles in the Dragon’s 20 compared to just nine for the Red V.

When asked specifically about the decision to penalise Toby Couchman for stripping the ball from Bronson Xerri, Flanagan didn’t hold back.

“It’s a loose carry every day of the week, without a doubt,” he said.

“There’s that, there’s a lot of others as well. We didn’t get the rub of the green, that’s for sure. As I said, just disappointing but it wasn’t decided in my view the right way.”

“There was a couple of others that went to the bunker that I thought were strange to put it that way,” he later added.

“Trying to find a nice word about it. But we didn’t get the rub of the green in those decisions so whether we got it in the last 30 seconds, I’m not quite sure.

“I’ll just reiterate, the game has been put on a real high pedestal and I just thought tonight it shouldn’t have been decided the way it was. The NRL’s done a great job, our club’s done a great job.

“The fans will decide. Good luck to the Bulldogs, they were good enough to win and kick the field goal. That’s a skill but I think we should have gone home (with) one point each.”

Dragons hooker Damien Cook didn’t want to give too much away when asked for his take on the Couchman call, telling reporters he is “always going to have a biased opinion”.

“But you guys all watched it, all the fans watched it,” he added.

If Flanagan was frustrated, he will have support from Cowboys coach Todd Payten after he called out double standards in the earlier Las Vegas game.

When a journalist brought it up, referencing another moment where Stephen Crichton was not sin-binned for a high shot on a falling Setu Tu despite Braidon Burns being binned in the earlier game, Flanagan found another sympathetic ear.

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“Mate, can you just write your words that you just said and put my name underneath it because I’m exactly the same,” he said.

“Like seriously, come on. There was another one there that Setu Tu was running back to the ball, they kicked it in behind and he’s running back towards the ball, Kikau pushes him in the back and they get a penalty.

“Seriously mate, there was about six or seven on them. I’m disappointed. But you’re 100 per cent right with what you just said.”

Flanagan made headlines earlier in the week when he made the honest admission that his team, who are in the early stages of a rebuild, can’t win the competition this year.

While Sunday’s result may not have changed his or other’s opinions, it did prove that this is a squad with plenty of mettle and the Dragons coach had a clear message in his press conference.

“We have a good footy team,” he said.

“What I said, I think in hindsight I probably shouldn’t have said it, but flip the coin over, if I say that we’re going to win the comp, there’s going to be as much criticism as probably more.

“We’ve got a good football team. Our club’s on the way up. We’re ready to go and we’re going to compete this year. We’re going to be better next year and better the year after.

“We’re a big club and we’re on the improve. So look out, jump on board or get off.”

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