Fittler Frustrated By Ref

Illawarra Mercury

Monday April 28, 2008

By TIM KEEBLE

KIAMA coach Tony Fittler will seek an urgent "please explain" from the Group Seven referees association after his side's 26-22 loss to Shellharbour yesterday at Ron Costello Oval.

Desperate to break their premiership duck, the Knights fell behind 20-8 before their belated revival gave the Sharks a fright.

They remain winless after four rounds and are likely to be without David Bil and Marc Duncan for this weekend's meeting with Milton-Ulladulla after injuries prevented the pair from completing the game.

Both teams scored five tries, with Sharks fullback Matt Coelho's three conversions from five attempts proving the difference.

Shellharbour coach Peter Yatras said there were times "when the referee (William Drury) didn't have the same assessment as us", while Fittler didn't try to mask his frustration.

"I'm going to have to go back and read this document the referees put out because I'm not reading the fine print," Fittler said.

"I can't understand how we get one set of rules one week and another set of rules the other week. That's just not fair on the players - and I'm talking about both teams, not just us.

"We were blown away with penalties in the first half and I just can't understand the calls.

"(Drury) didn't lose us the game and they were a better side than us at the end of the day, but somebody's gotta come forward from the referees association and say to us, 'this is what it's about'. I've had meetings with them and I can't understand it."

Shellharbour led 10-0 after tries to Robbie Byatt and Coelho.

Kiama hit back before Byatt crossed for his second try to put the Knights up 14-4. The visitors stayed in the hunt with a try on the stroke of half-time to reduce the margin to 14-8.

Byatt completed his hat-trick early in the second half but the Sharks fell alseep, allowing Kiama to close the gap to 20-18.

Another Shellharbour try put the result beyond doubt, before the Knights crossed for their fifth try in the dying seconds.

"We clocked off a number of times during the game. We were a bit lazy at times and probably had a few too many players who weren't at their best," Yatras said.

"Kiama were very enthusiastic at the back end of the game.

"They were doing all the talking, they had the good kick-chase and had a good line in defence."

The Sharks have won three straight since their round one loss to Warilla.

"We're still learning about each other. We had four players out today and had to rearrange the team a bit," Yatras said.

"Bryce Poisel has been leading us well at halfback and with him out, Nathan Thompson had some pretty big shoes to fill and did a good job today.

"It's one of those comps where if you don't turn up on the day you can pay for it. We were down a bit today and nearly paid for it.

"We didn't play real well and got away with two points, so we're really happy."

Fittler remained confident his side's best is ahead of them.

"That was a chance to get a tick in the box. My blokes' commitment was good, but we let them get away with it in the first half and we've done that too many times with too many teams," he said.

"Teams haven't beaten us, we've beaten ourselves, and that's what we've gotta get around.

"We've gotta start changing that culture in our club. We can't let teams get away from us and get their roll-on. We've gotta learn to get points on the board early."

Meanwhile, Milton-Ulladulla handed two-time defending premiers Albion Park-Oak Flats their second straight loss, coming from behind to win 20-12 at Mollymook Oval. Competition leaders Shoalhaven overcame Warilla 32-22, while Batemans Bay had the bye.

Table: Shoalhaven 8, Milton, Shellharbour 6, Albion Park, Berry, Warilla, Gerringong 4, Kiama, Batemans Bay 2

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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