KENNY-DOWALL
The Kiwi Xpress
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By Wayne Heming
September 09, 2007
NORTH Queensland coach Graham Murray said the Bulldogs had it coming from ref Paul Simpkins after finishing on the wrong side of a hefty penalty discrepancy in Saturday's NRL qualifying final.
A caustic Steve Folkes let fly with a sarcastic spray at Simpkins after the Bulldogs lost the game and the penalty count 12-4 against a Cowboys outfit which rode home on the vocal backing of just over 24,000 fans at at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
"He (Simpkins) was fantastic I thought, absolutely fantastic,'' said a straight-faced Folkes.
"He should be pencilled in for the grand final because if you want a grand final decided by a lopsided penalty count, he's your man.''
However, Murray backed Simpkins saying the Bulldogs' tactics to slow the Cowboys down were obvious and the referee had to call what he saw.
"It's obvious what they came here for and the referee adjudicated for it,'' said Murray.
"I've got no doubt the Bulldogs came here to slow us down. They were saying things in the newspapers during the week about not giving us quick play the balls like they did last week."
Despite the club's second loss in eight days to the Cowboys, Folkes felt the Bulldogs had found something like their true September form.
However, he rued a lack of time with the football in the Cowboys' half because of the weight of penalties which he said had taken a heavy toll.
"We pretty much defended for a large portion of the second half and I thought we did a very good job because they are a very dangerous side.
"It was a massive improvement on last week (when the Cowboys won 38-36).
"Hopefully we'll get through this weekend and get to build on it next weekend.
"We were in the contest for the whole time, even without the ball and the penalty count against us so I'm really proud of the way they aimed up.
"We've been talking about it for a while but tonight I actually thought we did it.''
Strike forward Willie Mason said a few calls had gone against the Bulldogs "at crucial times'' during a match which had a State-of-Origin feel.
"You can defend desperately and then get a penalty against you. it's tough to swallow,'' he said.
"Players with short fuses like me can blow up it's all part of the game. Hopefully when can get another crack at someone next week because we've still got the belief.
"We'll have the full squad available next week. We need to put it all together for 80 minutes and we're still comfortable we can give it a shake."
Mason played down a first-half charge on halfback Johnathan Thurston which the Cowboys captain claimed was "late''.
"I know I definitely didn't hit him around the head area,'' said Mason,'' he said.
September 09, 2007
NORTH Queensland coach Graham Murray said the Bulldogs had it coming from ref Paul Simpkins after finishing on the wrong side of a hefty penalty discrepancy in Saturday's NRL qualifying final.
A caustic Steve Folkes let fly with a sarcastic spray at Simpkins after the Bulldogs lost the game and the penalty count 12-4 against a Cowboys outfit which rode home on the vocal backing of just over 24,000 fans at at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
"He (Simpkins) was fantastic I thought, absolutely fantastic,'' said a straight-faced Folkes.
"He should be pencilled in for the grand final because if you want a grand final decided by a lopsided penalty count, he's your man.''
However, Murray backed Simpkins saying the Bulldogs' tactics to slow the Cowboys down were obvious and the referee had to call what he saw.
"It's obvious what they came here for and the referee adjudicated for it,'' said Murray.
"I've got no doubt the Bulldogs came here to slow us down. They were saying things in the newspapers during the week about not giving us quick play the balls like they did last week."
Despite the club's second loss in eight days to the Cowboys, Folkes felt the Bulldogs had found something like their true September form.
However, he rued a lack of time with the football in the Cowboys' half because of the weight of penalties which he said had taken a heavy toll.
"We pretty much defended for a large portion of the second half and I thought we did a very good job because they are a very dangerous side.
"It was a massive improvement on last week (when the Cowboys won 38-36).
"Hopefully we'll get through this weekend and get to build on it next weekend.
"We were in the contest for the whole time, even without the ball and the penalty count against us so I'm really proud of the way they aimed up.
"We've been talking about it for a while but tonight I actually thought we did it.''
Strike forward Willie Mason said a few calls had gone against the Bulldogs "at crucial times'' during a match which had a State-of-Origin feel.
"You can defend desperately and then get a penalty against you. it's tough to swallow,'' he said.
"Players with short fuses like me can blow up it's all part of the game. Hopefully when can get another crack at someone next week because we've still got the belief.
"We'll have the full squad available next week. We need to put it all together for 80 minutes and we're still comfortable we can give it a shake."
Mason played down a first-half charge on halfback Johnathan Thurston which the Cowboys captain claimed was "late''.
"I know I definitely didn't hit him around the head area,'' said Mason,'' he said.
