Canterbury coach Dean Pay has bitten back at Wayne Bennett and the NRL, questioning why his side are being singled-out for go-slow tactics.
The Bulldogs have come under the spotlight for allegedly slowing down the play-the-ball during their 14-6 loss to Bennett's South Sydney on Good Friday.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley said the speed of the ruck during the match was unacceptable, highlighting that 38 per cent of play-the-balls in which the Bulldogs were the defensive team took longer than four seconds - the greatest percentage of any team in any game this year.
Pay said he had not heard from Annesley or referees boss Bernie Sutton.
"Our game has been picked out for some reason," Pay said.
"Souths had that much ball we defended all day. I thought we did a tremendous job to hold them to 14 points.
"Our defensive processes don't change from week to week.
"Do we want to win the ruck? Of course, like every other team does. Does it give you time to get your line set and come off the line? Yes it does.
"I saw a couple of stats before the average play-the-ball was slower (in some games) than our game last week. I don't know why they picked our game."
Pay said his side would continue to push the envelope, despite Annesley's promise they risked being penalised.
"We play the game as hard as we can," Pay said.
"We win the ruck as much as we can. That's based on what the referees give us. We're not going to get off them just because Graham said. We want to win.
"We'll just play by the rules every week."
Australian Associated Press
