Raiders cop fine for Furner spray8 May 2012, 2:56 pmThe Canberra Raiders have been slapped with a $10,000 fine by the Australian Rugby League Commission after coach David Furner questioned the integrity of the referees in Sunday's 18-12 loss to Manly.
The Raiders were on the wrong side of an 8-3 penalty count in the loss at Brookvale Oval, leading Furner to suggest the officials had refereed his side out of the match.
'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.
'I don't think anybody expected us to come here and win ... maybe not them (referees).'
The NRL's guidelines allow coaches to comment on the referees' performance and even criticise individual decisions, but the league said Furner went too far by questioning the integrity of the officials and accusing them of bias.
'Coaches have the right to criticise a referee's performance and to express their views but questioning a match official's integrity is unacceptable,' ARL Commission 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 have five business days to appeal the decision.
Source: Sky News Australia
Topic: Raiders cop fine for Furner spray
