Roosters coach Trent Robinson has “taken umbrage” to a suggestion his players were laying down for penalties on Sunday night.
The Roosters’ season was ended by their arch rivals South Sydney in an elimination final that saw a record seven sin bins.
Tricolours lock Victor Radley was binned twice, while enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves also copped 10 minutes on the sideline for roughing Rabbitohs players.
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South Sydney were binned four times in a historic match that featured 15 penalties.
Robinson had no problem with the officiating but he was left unimpressed with a question from a journalist that suggested players were milking penalties.
Journalist: Do you think the more players that were penalised or binned, the more players became aware that if they stayed down or if the game stopped there would be an opportunity there for a penalty? Did you see it as a problem today and do you see it as a problem for the rest of the finals?
Robinson: Are you saying on the Roosters side?
Journalist: Nah just in general.
Robinson : Are you saying that the Roosters lied down there.
Journalist: Nah, the game in general. Like a lot of those sin bins were referees getting instruction from the bunker, they weren’t actually called in the play.
Robinson: Yeah sure, but I’m asking, are you saying that the Roosters lied down for penalties in that game?
Journalist: Nah just in general. I can’t remember all of them because there were that many but it felt like they went upstairs a lot.
Robinson: I’ll just say they didn’t lie down for any penalties. I take umbrage to the suggestion that we lied down for penalties, because we didn’t.
Journalist: What about Souths?
Robinson: I don’t have an opinion on theirs. I have an opinion on us and that’s that we won’t do it, it’s not going to happen. You can see I’m passionate about that and that won’t happen and I’d ask you to have a look and say where we did that, just don’t say in general because that didn’t happen from our end.
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The Roosters were controversially denied being able to use their replacement player when Thomas Burgess hit James Tedesco with a high shot and ended his night.
Because Burgess wasn’t binned they couldn’t activate 18th Man Adam Keighran, but Robinson wouldn’t be drawn on the issue.
“I don’t think that’s for me to go into,” Robinson said.
“I thought (referee) Ashley (Klein) and the bunker handled the game as they should, we can go on different points on different sin binnings and all of that but I feel like both times we forced their hand.”
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