Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett won't talk to Jordan Kahu about the line drop-out brain fade he says was the difference in the Broncos' 10-7 loss to Canterbury.
Kahu inexplicably picked up a Bulldogs drop-out before it had crossed the 10m line, dashing across the try-line in an attempt to score at ANZ Stadium on Thursday. The play is a well known no-no in the NRL, and automatically attracts a penalty.
"I haven't spoken to him about it," Bennett said.
"It's done. What's the point of talking about it now?
"If you look at his game overall, he had a really good game. He's played enough football to know what the rules are."
Canterbury coach Des Hasler laughed that Bennett should hand Kahu a rulebook after the match, and labelled the 52nd minute incident a fortunate turning point.
Broncos players also said they were too far away from Kahu to warn him not to pick the ball up.
Brisbane were leading 7-0, and would have been awarded a penalty 10 metres out from the Bulldogs' line if the kick had failed to cross the line.
Instead, it put the Bulldogs on the attack, and paved the way for them to score the last two tries of the match in the following 10 minutes to take the lead.
Bennett raised the error, unprompted, when asked where he thought the game was decided in the post-match media conference.
"It was a crucial moment in the game," Bennett said.
"It just swung the momentum.
"They scored in the next set and then they grew an arm and a leg and scores a couple of sets later because they grew in confidence and got the run on the game on us."
It was also a cruel blow for Kahu, who had again stepped up to slot over a field goal and take a seven-point advantage before halftime.
The Broncos have now slipped to a 2-3 record, but Kahu was responsible for their only other past close win.
In the past month they have dropped games to North Queensland, Melbourne and now Canterbury by one, two and three points respectively.
Their only win in that time was also tight, when Kahu again nailed a field goal to beat Canberra 13-12 last Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
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