“Come back to bite you”: Woolf speaks out against diving

Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf has spoken out against players diving to induce referees to call penalties.

Within the opening weeks of the NRL premiership season, there have been several instances of players exaggerating contact, particularly when there’s potential for an obstruction penalty to be paid.

Asked whether he would coach players to dive, considering that a call often goes in their favour, the 50-year-old disagreed, believing that his side should be above that.

“No, we don't,” Woolf stated on SENQ Breakfast.

“I think it will hurt us. I think it's hurt us a little bit over the last couple of weeks.

“If I go back to Round 1, there was an incident very early in the game where David Fifita was awarded a penalty for making it really known to the referee that he was impeded.

“That went that way, and then there was another one later in the game, well, not long after that actually, where there was a try and one of our players were impeded, and we cracked on and didn't receive a penalty there.

“The same thing happened on the weekend, actually, I thought with the Braydon Trindall try that Hamiso (Tabuai-Fidow) was taken out by a lead and not given any opportunity to really be in that try save.

“Because he didn't lie down or because he didn't make a big deal of it, that doesn't get looked at.

“So, look, it's not a path that we want to take. I think that in time, those sorts of actions come back to bite you a little bit.

“We want to be a team that wants to compete for everything, and that's what we're encouraging.”

The Dolphins next play this Friday when they take on the Broncos in the Battle of Brisbane.

SEN will have live coverage of the match available through Broncos Radio, which can be heard on SENQ and on the SEN app following the conclusion of the Warriors vs Tigers match.