Canterbury Bulldogs Coach Fumes at Refereeing Decisions in 22-16 Loss to Wests Tigers

Canterbury Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has been left fuming at several refereeing decisions that went against his side in their 22-16 loss to Wests Tigers.

The Tigers snapped a three-match losing streak in front of 17,505 fans at Western Sydney Stadium while the Bulldogs slumped to a record of four wins and eight losses in season 2026.

The turning point in Saturday's clash came in the 55th minute with the Tigers leading 16-10, when Josh Curran charged down a kick from Tigers five-eighth Jarome Luai, then ran 30 metres to score what would have been the Bulldogs' third try. The Bunker disallowed the try on review, after it saw Curran making contact with the kicking leg of Luai as the Bulldogs' forward ran through in the charge down motion.

The Tigers would then march down the field and score on the next set through Jeral Skelton, after centre Sunia Turuva clattered into Bulldogs fullback Jacob Kiraz.

Speaking to the media after the six-point loss, Ciraldo questioned why light contact on the kicking leg was deemed dangerous, but the contact on his fullback two minutes later was not penalised as well.

"[Curran's] foot did touch him, but Josh charged the ball down first and was chasing the kick, and then Jarome's foot hit him," Ciraldo said. "If that's the way it is, I'll cop that. But Jarome clearly didn't think it was a penalty because he turned and chased.

"The more disappointing one was to go down the other end, someone is offside, takes out our fullback, then that's a try.

"What's worse, someone touching your foot or someone taking out your fullback and they score a try?"

These were not the only issues Ciraldo had with the officiating. He also questioned the decision before half-time to disallow a try for captain Stephen Crichton, as the Bunker deemed he was held up over the line by Tigers' fullback Jahream Bula.

"There’s the other tries. They look like they were held up, but it’s a try. [Crichton] gets over the line, looks very similar to that, but it’s a no try," he said.

"Galvin gets the ball clearly stripped right in front of the referee, no penalty. Stephen throws a guy down on the ground, the ball comes out, penalty.

"I think every coach feels like that to be honest. We all feel like that; we all feel aggrieved."

West Tigers coach Benji Marshall also told media he thought Curran's try should have stood, saying he believed his side was lucky to be on the right side of that decision.

"Today, I thought we were a bit lucky with some of the calls. I thought the charge down was probably a try to be honest," Marshall said.

"I like that we’re protecting kickers but I thought we dodged a bullet there to be honest."

Earlier in the day, the Newcastle Knights moved into the competition's top four with a six-point win over the Parramatta Eels. The Melbourne Storm finished off Saturday's NRL action with a well-deserved 14-point win over the Sydney Roosters.