Bulldogs 12 Knights 22

FORTUNE may favour the brave, but it certainly doesn't favour the Bulldogs. Racked by injuries and with their star player considering walking out, the club's fate was further cruelled last night by a contentious ruling on a grounded ball.

Bulldogs officials last night were "dumbfounded" by referee Sean Hampstead's failure to ask the video referee to rule on five-eighth Jarrod Mullen's attempted grounding behind his own line - a decision that changed the course of the game and possibly the Bulldogs' season.

Bulldogs captain Andrew Ryan slammed his mitt on the ball after it had squirmed away from Mullen, yet Hampstead ordered a line drop-out following a call from touch judge Matt Cecchin. With even the Knights assembling for a referral to video referee Bill Harrigan, confusion reigned.

"My reaction was I was just dumbfounded he wouldn't go to the video referee given just about every decision goes upstairs these days," Bulldogs boss Todd Greenberg said.

At the time of the decision, the Knights were leading 10-6, but three minutes later debutant Junior Sau scored his second try of the night to put the game out of reach of the Bulldogs.

Asked if he felt the video referee should have been consulted, Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes said: "You would think that would be the case. They seem to go there for most tries these days, so for one that was a bit contentious … It was certainly an important part of the game. It could have turned it for us. I don't know what his thinking was."

Ryan added: "We all thought it was going up for a look, but after a little while Sean just said it was a drop-out - we were waiting to get feedback from the video ref."

Mullen maintained he had grounded the ball. "I thought there was some pressure there," he said. "All you need is a little bit of pressure. We got the drop-out, the rest is history."

Harrigan was adamant the right decision had been made, regardless of who made the call. "Sean Hampstead was only a couple of metres away. He believed it was grounded, and the touch judge confirmed it," he said. "They therefore decided that they didn't need to check it. If they had sent it upstairs, I would have supported their decision."

Beyond that incident, the Knights - without Origin stars Danny Buderus, Steve Simpson and Kurt Gidley - were strong in trying conditions. "It was one of those butt-ugly, awkward nights to play footy," coach Brian Smith said. "Our guys were never going to win on perfect execution - they were going to win on team spirit and I loved the determination and the hard work and the effort on a slippery, greasy night."

NEWCASTLE 22 (J Sau 2 J McManus A MacDougall tries W Naiqama 3 goals bt BULLDOGS 12 (M Utai N Youngquest tries H El Masri 2 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: S Hampstead. Crowd: 9,565.