Canterbury coach Des Hasler has been served a $10,000 breach notice by the NRL for his comments on the standard of refereeing in the Bulldogs' win over Newcastle on Saturday.
The Bulldogs coach blasted the performances of officials Brett Suttor and Jason Robinson in his post-match media conference at Hunter Stadium.
"One thing I couldn't understand was toward the back end of the first half the referees are talking between themselves saying: this game is going to change, this game is going to change, this game is going to change and the next time there's, you know, we get a run of penalties there's four penalties against us," Hasler said.
The NRL said the comments were made only two days after all clubs were warned in relation to attacks on the character of officials and generalisations that attack public confidence.
"Coaches have the ability to be critical of decisions," ARLC general manager of football operations Nathan McGuirk said.
"What we have said is that in doing so they should not question the character or integrity of the officials and that they should not use emotive generalisations.
"In this case it is our view that there was a clear inference drawn by the Bulldogs that the referees had a pre-determined view in the decisions they were to take for the remainder of the half."
The governing body ordered a review of the referees' on-field audio which produced one comment from a match official, which was in relation to the need for all officials to remain alert in the match.
"We just have to remember that Newcastle hasn't had the ball yet, so this could turn around very quickly," Suttor said.
Robinson replied: "Very true."
The Bulldogs have until Tuesday to make submissions in relation to the breach notice.
AAP
Tags: sport, rugby-league, canterbury-2193, nsw, australia First posted August 06, 2012 18:16:07