Cooper accuses Cronulla of ‘dirty tactics’

North Queensland back-rower Gavin Cooper has accused Cronulla of “dirty tactics”, saying they were twisting Matt Scott’s knee in his NRL injury comeback match.

Cooper said he was disappointed the referees missed several incidents during the Cowboys’ 20-14 win over the Sharks last week – Scott’s first game back from a serious knee injury.

“I think there was a few little dirty tactics, a couple of guys twisting his leg and stuff like that that the refs missed,” he said.

“There was a couple of things I saw that the refs missed.

“(It’s) pretty disappointing after what he’s been through.

“Hopefully we stamp that out of the game.”

After being told Cooper’s claims by reporters on Monday, Scott preferred to leave it on the field.

“No, not targeted too much,” he said.

“Any time you come back from a long-term injury, you expect to get it tested out a little bit.

“I’ll leave that on the field, you can have a look at the video.”

Scott ran 94m and made 16 tackles in the season-opening win over the Sharks last Friday night – his first NRL game in almost 12 months after going down in round two last year.

Scott said his knee had pulled up well ahead of Friday night’s round two clash with Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium.

“I feel really good, a few aches and pains but nothing unusual – the body pulled through really well,” he said.

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