Bulldogs appeal rejected

An appeal by Canterbury against a decision to strip them of two competition points for fielding an ineligible player has been thrown out by the NRL.

The Bulldogs were stripped of the points following their narrow 28-26 victory over Penrith last month.

They were judged to have had an extra man on the field in Andrew Ryan, who took to the pitch in the dying seconds after an interchange mix-up.

President of the NRL Appeals Committee, Sir Laurence Street, said in a statement: “This Application for Leave to Appeal falls within a small compass although I recognise that the outcome is of great importance to the Bulldogs.”

“The Application has been well and thoroughly argued by Senior Counsel for the Bulldogs and the NRL but in my view an appeal to the tribunal does not have good prospects of success and it follows that Leave to Appeal must be refused.”

“The undisputed fact is that the Bulldogs had 14 players on the field when they scored the winning try.”

Bulldogs Chief Executive Todd Greenberg said the club would move on. He told News Corp: “We are disappointed not to receive leave to appeal but have received a fair hearing.” “We are now happy to move on.”