Arthur hits out at ‘stupid’ NRL ruling

Furious Parramatta coach Brad Arthur slammed the NRL’s rule makers after his side went down to an 18-16 defeat to Canterbury in controversial circumstances on Friday night.

A gripping contest ended in farcical scenes when a Chris Sandow try, two minutes from time, was chalked off after an 11-year-old ball boy threw the ball straight to Eels winger Vai Toutai for a quick restart instead of putting the ball on the sideline.

The incident occurred after had Sandow found touch from a 40-20 kick and Toutai then passed to the halfback from sideline after being handed the ball by the youngster .

Although the decision was, strictly speaking, correct, Arthur said it was wrong that such a big moment in the game should be decided by a ruling he claimed was flawed.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve seen players running down and getting the ball boy to throw it in and it’s play-on,” Arthur said.

“Vai actually passed the ball off the sideline. It’s a stupid rule.

“What more do they want us to do? Go up into the grandstand and pass it out of the grandstand?”

The defeat was a huge blow to the Eels’ finals hopes with high-flying Manly their next opponents before finishing their campaign with trips to Newcastle and Canberra.

“We’re going to have to make sure we win our next three to ensure we’re in the finals,” Arthur said.

“That’s all there is to it. We can say our piece now, but it ain’t going to help us. We need to move forward to improve a few little areas.”

Canterbury’s win ended a run of four successive losses and coach Des Hasler praised the character of his players who hung on for a much-needed win that moved them up for fifth on the ladder, despite being on the back foot for most of the second half.

“I was happy with the way we attacked, it was gutsy from both sides and it’s been a tough couple of weeks for the boys,” Hasler said.

“We stuck solid and played the kind of football that you need to go set-to-set with a side like Parramatta.”

The sides scored three tries each with a Trent Hodkinson conversion proving the difference.

Greg Eastwood, Mitch Brown and Aiden Tolman crossed for the Bulldogs with Semi Radradra scoring twice for the Eels after Jarryd Hayne leapt above the Canterbury defence for his 18th try of the season.

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