A livid South Sydney coach Michael Maguire has blasted the officials in his team's 32-18 loss to Canberra for not halting play after Adam Reynolds suffered a head knock in what proved to be a huge momentum swing against his side.
With the Rabbitohs putting a very ordinary first half behind them to narrow the deficit to 20-12 midway through the second half, Reynolds was clipped high and had the ball stripped then attended by trainers and taken from the field for a head injury assessment.
With play allowed to continue, Raiders winger Nick Cotric made a break down the Rabbitohs' right side defence where Reynolds would usually be and while a scrambling Angus Crichton managed to save a try he was sin-binned for holding on too long in the tackle. The Raiders scored twice against the 12-man defensive line to put the contest to bed.
After the game, a furious Maguire teed off on Henry Perenara and Jon Stone for allowing play to continue as Reynolds lay prone.
"I would like to ask why the game wasn't stopped when our halfback went down when it was very obvious – we had our trainer go out to him," Maguire said.
"[Reynolds] was on the ground, you have a trainer run right across in front of a ref to that player, and the game is trying to be diligent around head knocks. So we don't have the opportunity then to control momentum of the game."
Maguire questioned why play was stopped when Raiders prop Jeff Lima required attention for a head cut but not for Reynolds.
"Why isn't it stopped when Adam Reynolds is laying flat on his back, the doctor has to go review the screen then bringing him off, where is the consistency around those kinds of things?" Maguire asked.
"We as a club we want to be diligent around this concussion, I just want to make sure it goes both ways."
Maguire called for the game to give more help to the doctors who are diligent in seeking to remove players from the field when they need to be checked.
"The game is trying to give responsibility to the doctors. The game has to be responsible and look after the doctors. I can ask down to the doctor why he is taken off, and the doctors go through the protocol. It's got to assist both sides," Maguire said.
"The trainer ran right down in front to the player flat on his back. If Adam had jumped up and played on, no worries. But he was on his back.
"As soon as there is no motion in the player, that is a sign there is a concussion.
"I don't take away from the fact our team needs to be better. But I want to make sure that the accountability… and the responsibility comes."
