"I don't intend to get myself fined today, I've supported what the refs have been trying to do, which is give us more football, and I'm a fan of that,'' Bennett said. "But I told them when I knew what was going down, the issue would be what was happening in the tackle. Starting early: Souths winger Campbell Graham crashes over in the opening minutes. Credit:NRL Photos "You all saw it today. It had a huge impact on the game because of what was going on with the ruck and play-the-ball area. "I've never been in an era where players are less compliant than they've ever been.

"They stretch everything they can out on the field, and it puts more pressure on the referees as well. It's not criticism. It's a fact. It's what I'm seeing, and today was the worst I've seen with that situation. "The game never got to a point where it flowed because it couldn't. Players are players and once they realise a bit of slack is being cut, they'll take a bit more of it. You'll get co-operation from some teams but you won't get it from every team. Loading "We have refs out there to adjudicate, that's what they have to do. I'm not blaming them, they've tried to open the game up and have less penalties and down time. "If you talk about Lachlan Lewis and the Sam Burgess blow-up coming in at half-time, that was all to do with what happened with the play-the-ball area. What are you allowed to get away with? And Sam didn't want to tolerate that. That's what we'll see a lot more of.

"The solution is 'ref what's in front of you'. That's always been the solution.'' Souths have now made it five wins in six games, even though the last hour in front of 30,040 fans at ANZ Stadium was not spectacular viewing. They are every chance to make it six from seven when they head to the foot of the mountains against a struggling Penrith next Friday night. Campbell Graham scored in the third minute when he received a lovely cut-out ball from Cody Walker, and it looked like being a Bad Friday for the home side. But the Dogs refused to go away and hit back through big Ofahiki Ogden. They were denied an earlier try to Kerrod Holland who was unlucky not to receive a penalty when he collided with Dane Gagai chasing hard after a Jack Cogger grubber.

When Alex Johnston latched on to a brilliant Damien Cook grubber approaching the half-hour, Souths looked in command. But the scoreboard meant the Dogs were always a chance. Loading Corey Allan found himself with plenty of time and room to catch an Adam Reynolds grubber and score before the break. But Liam Knight was pinged for impeding Lewis in the lead-up. Canterbury deserved credit for refusing to give up. Aiden Tolman was inspirational, as was the long chase by Reimis Smith and Jeremy Marshall-King to mow down Allan in the second half.