Canberra have been served a $10,000 breach notice by the ARL Commission after coach David Furner criticised the referees following Sunday’s NRL loss to Manly.
Furner was furious following the 18-12 loss at Brookvale Oval after his side was on the wrong end of a an 8-3 penalty count.
“What I look at is the overall penalty count – 8-3 – now we’re not nearly a three times worse side in discipline than Manly,” Furner said after the game.
“I don’t think anybody expected us to come here and win … maybe not them (referees).”
The ARLC said coaches, officials and players were able to criticise decisions but Furner had overstepped the mark by questioning the integrity of referees Jared Maxwell and Tony De Las Heras.
“Coaches have the right to criticise a referee’s performance and to express their views but questioning a match official’s integrity is unacceptable,” ARLC general manager of football Operations Nathan McGuirk said.
“There was a clear inference in Mr Furner’s comments that the match officials had a pre-determined view of the result of the game.”
The Raiders will have five working days to respond to the breach notice.