Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson has accused the NRL's bunker of grossly over-reacting by sending off Dom Young and sin-binning Victor Radley in his side's dramatic loss to Canterbury.
The Roosters went within a whisker of pulling off the equal-biggest comeback in NRL history on Friday night, despite finishing the 30-26 loss with just 11 men on the field.
Young was dismissed in the first half for a high shot on Blake Taaffe, before Radley was sin-binned late for an apparent hip-drop tackle on Stephen Crichton.
Both calls frustrated Robinson, who has previously accused the bunker of failing to protect his players when it comes to high shots.
"[Dom] hit him high and it's not good for Blake. You don't want to see that," Robinson said.
"It hit him in the jaw, but it wasn't a swinging arm. It was open-handed. It was lower than shoulder height.
"If that's the standard, that's fine. But that's a new one for me. I feel like that's lower than what's been sent off before.
"It's definitely a sin bin. Blake's got concussed from that … But we've had guys stay on the field, not even go for 10, for [worse].
"That was a bit over the top. If they come out and say, 'Rightio that's the new [level]', there'll be a lot more send-offs in our game."
Robinson was even more incensed by the Radley sin bin, which came with the Roosters battling back at 30-20.
The tackle did not appear to meet several of the indicators of a hip drop, given Connor Watson had been the one to bring ball-carrier Stephen Crichton to the ground.
"The [Radley] one was ridiculous," Robinson said.
"Connor is the one that tackles [Crichton] from behind and twists his ankle, and then [Radley] falls on that ankle.
"How they got there, to that decision, that's incredible. That was below par."
Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo agreed, arguing the call was "harsh".
"Accidents happen. And we've been on the other end of them a few times," Ciraldo said.
"So I've got sympathy for a bloke who gets sent to the sin bin for hip drops."
Beyond Young and Radley, the Roosters are guaranteed to be without Sam Walker and James Tedesco against Newcastle on Thursday after both suffered concussions.
Walker was OK in the dressing room after, but Robinson said Tedesco was "getting his memory back" at halftime.
Knights slay the Dragons in wet and wild clash
Newcastle may have found their halves combination, after Jackson Hastings and Jack Cogger eased pressure on the Knights by inspiring a 30-10 defeat of St George Illawarra amid wet and wild conditions.
In torrential rain at their McDonald Jones Stadium home, the Knights controlled the majority of Friday night's game, their attack looking the best it has all season — thanks largely to their third unique halves pairing in five games.
Last season's semi-finalists were staring down the possibility of a 1-4 record but confirmed their second win of the year with a solid defensive display after halftime.
Knights coach Adam O'Brien hinted he would name the same halves pairing against the Sydney Roosters in round six, with Tyson Gamble likely to play NSW Cup for a second week running.
"I'll have a look at what Tyson Gamble did in reserve grade, from all reports he played a big part in that, but at the moment, those two halves can hold their head up," O'Brien said.
"We got a win, we got a quite comfortable win. I don't need to go executing anyone this week."
The Dragons' mixed start to 2024 continued and they will sweat on the availability of Jack Bird after the centre appeared to injure his left knee.
Early signs are that Bird's injury is not severe, but he did not return after falling awkwardly in a tackle from Hastings just after halftime.
In his first game since the Dragons granted his release request, the unsettled Zac Lomax was one of few exceptions as the visitors struggled to adapt to the slippery conditions.
Newcastle poked holes in the Dragons' goal-line defence for fun in the first half, forcing Shane Flanagan to switch Lomax to fullback and put Tyrell Sloan on the wing for part of the second half.
The irony would not have been lost on Lomax, whose frustration with his move to the wing had triggered his desire to move on.
The Dragons went scoreless after the 22nd minute but the Knights had no such execution issues in the wet.
"We didn't try to play too expansive, we played to the conditions," O'Brien said.
"It's not rocket science."
When Sloan coughed up the first of many grubber kicks from Cogger, Hastings pounced on the loose ball and opened the scoring on return from his two-week spell in NSW Cup.
Enari Tuala added a second try before Cogger, taking on the bulk of kicking responsibilities, landed a grubber in a puddle and Daniel Saifiti slid through to extend the hosts' advantage.
An inside ball from Hastings to Dylan Lucas helped stretch the halftime lead to 14 points.
The Dragons looked most dangerous when Lomax and Ben Hunt were linking up on the right edge, as they did for the side's only two tries of the night.
Hunt grubbered through the line to help the winger score the Saints' first, before a freakish no-look flick pass from Lomax put the halfback in for the second.
But when Ponga quite literally slid over for the Knights' fifth try in the final 10 minutes, the hosts were home.
"We're not consistent enough and we need to find out why," said Flanagan.
"Tonight there were tricky conditions, but it's not an excuse."
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