Bennett accuses Cherry-Evans of diving

Wayne Bennett will seek a "please explain" from NRL referees boss Tony Archer after accusing Daly Cherry-Evans of diving after Brisbane's 24-14 win over Manly.

Coach Wayne Bennett

Coach Wayne Bennett (pic) has not only accused Daly Cherry-Evans of diving. (AAP)

Wayne Bennett has not only accused Daly Cherry-Evans of diving, he fears the act will now become rife in the NRL.

The Brisbane coach said he would seek a "please explain" from referees boss Tony Archer after their 24-14 NRL win over Manly at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

Bennett was not impressed after the Broncos were denied a 79th=minute try when the bunker deemed Sam Thaiday had obstructed Cherry-Evans in the lead-up.

"You can't just get tapped like he did and fall over backwards - it was obviously deliberate," Bennett said.

"He realised he was gone, that he had made the wrong decision defensively.

"It wasn't even a collision."

Last round Wests Tigers coach Ivan Cleary accused Cronulla skipper Paul Gallen of diving after Aaron Woods tugged at his jersey in the lead-up to a disallowed James Tedesco try in the Sharks' 22-16 win.

Bennett feared diving would now become prevalent and hoped to nip the practice in the bud by speaking to Archer.

"You just can't have guys diving. That move had almost gone out of the game," he said.

"That will be the start of it.

"Everyone will be doing it in the next two months, I can guarantee you."

Bennett stressed it was not personal with Cherry-Evans.

"I am not critical of him," he said.

"The point is we have officials in the game and administrators who have got to make decisions and say 'that is not acceptable'.

"They have got the vision of the bunker. If we are all on the same page it is not difficult to adjudicate."

Broncos captain Darius Boyd also believed Cherry-Evans had taken a dive - then admitted he would have done the same thing.

"There wasn't much contact involved," he said.

"But you do the best for your team. I would probably do the same thing in that position."

For the record, Manly coach Trent Barrett said the officials got the no-try call right.

"He (Thaiday) hit Cherry square on, and on his outside shoulder so it is an obstruction," he said.


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Source: AAP



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