It's League not Union - Asotasi

SOUTHS playmaker John Sutton last night accused referees of "trying to make a name for themselves" and captain Roy Asotasi fears the NRL could be turned into rugby union.

The frustration was still evident at the Rabbitohs' recovery session as they struggled to accept Friday night's golden-point loss to the Gold Coast Titans and the extraordinary 21 penalties that ruined the game as a spectacle.

Halfback Chris Sandow admitted he sent a chair flying in the dressing room after he was penalised and sin-binned in the final minute, which gave the Titans the chance to take the game into extra time and eventually win it with a Scott Prince field goal.

Referees Ashley Klein and Tony De Las Heras came under fire for many of the nit-picking penalties.

"I thought it was very frustrating," Sutton said. "It wasn't free-flowing at all. There were a whole heap of penalties. Some of them (referees) are trying to make a name for themselves. They are really trying to assert themselves.

"The young blokes are trying to make their mark and it is something we have to cope with."

With the introduction of two referees last season eroding the depth of the whistle-blowers, Sutton points to the lack of experience for the skyrocketing penalty counts. You probably only have three or four at the top," Sutton said.

"I don't know much about refereeing, but some of them need some more experience. I think some of them have to work harder."

Sandow was still coming to terms with giving away a penalty for interfering with Prince at the play-the-ball that cost his team victory.

"It's hard to say if (the referee) got it right," Sandow said. "I really don't know what to say. I'm pretty filthy with myself because I think I let them down. I had to try to slow the ball down because the game was on the line. I was filthy because I cost them the game, but things happen.

"I went in and a sent a chair flying after I was sin-binned. I was pretty angry with myself. I just put my head down when all the boys came into the sheds.

"Things are really going against us at the moment, but it will turn. We just have to keep on plugging away and we will turn the corner."

As his side regrouped at a recovery session at Maroubra, Asotasi said the Rabbitohs would work on their discipline before they take on the Sharks next Monday night.

"It felt like a game of union," Asotasi said. "There was just a whistle going off every couple of minutes, but once the referee makes a decision it is final.

"We just have to learn how to deal with it. We just have to rise above it."

Asotasi threw his support behind the use of two referees despite his frustrations with Friday night's penalty count.

"I am a fan of the two ref system," Asotasi said. "When it came in, I thought it was a good idea and I still do. I think it is just a work in progress.

"It is only in its second year and the only way referees can get better is by refereeing games. I am just hoping we don't have the whistle again like last night."

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