Canterbury Bulldogs coach Dean Pay denies NRL veteran Josh Morris milked a penalty against the Rabbitohs that led to Sam Burgess being rubbed out for two weeks.

April 18, 2018

Canterbury coach Dean Pay has dismissed accusations of “rolling around and milking” levelled at Josh Morris over the penalty that led to South Sydney star Sam Burgess copping a two-game suspension.

Pay says Morris hasn’t got it in him to “lay down” and the veteran NRL finisher struggled with a throat injury following Burgess’ forearm blow.

“It’s a big call isn’t it, for someone to say someone lays down? None of my players are like that,” Pay said on Wednesday.

“He really struggled with it for a while … We had a few days there, he couldn’t train earlier (that) week,” he said when asked about Morris’ injury.

Burgess on Tuesday took aim at Morris for a “Hollywood” performance during the Bunnies’ 20-16 Good Friday win.

The Bulldogs flyer fell to the turf, grabbing at his windpipe after the collision.

“I think the reaction of the opposing player had a big influence,” Burgess told reporters when asked about his two-match suspension.

The English forward rejected a suggestion he needed to work on his game to prevent landing himself in a similar position again.

“That’s football, we play a contact sport, (not) players rolling around and milking it or trying to get a career in Hollywood after playing football.”

Pay will be looking to Morris to perform against the Sydney Roosters on Thursday night.

“We certainly want to play better than we did the last time we met them,” he said.

He said like the Bulldogs, the Roosters had been inconsistent this season but his focus was on his team’s performance not avenging the round two 30-12 drubbing.

“Our focus is on ourselves and making sure we play well. We can’t control what they do,” he said.