Cooper points finger at Sharks’ low blows

RUGBY LEAGUE: Cowboys forward Gavin Cooper has accused Cronulla players of targeting Matt Scott’s reconstructed knee with “a few little dirty tactics” in the co-captain’s first NRL game back from an ACL injury on Friday night.

Asked how he thought Scott fared in his return, Cooper was forthright in his belief that the Sharks were twisting Scott’s leg, but didn’t to single any players out.

“I think there was a few little dirty tactics, a couple of guys twisting his leg and stuff like that that the refs missed,” Cooper said yesterday.

“(It’s) pretty disappointing after what he’s been through.

“There was a couple of things I saw that the refs missed. Hopefully we stamp that out of the game.”

Asked if he pointed it out to the referees, Cooper said: “Definitely (but) I’m not the captain any more, they don’t listen to me.

“There’s a lot of feeling in our Sharks games. I was very close to a couple of things on the weekend and there’s a lot of feeling in those games.”

‘‘ I THINK THERE WAS A FEW LITTLE DIRTY TACTICS, A COUPLE OF GUYS TWISTING HIS LEG ... – GAVIN COOPER

Scott declined to elaborate on Cooper’s comments, but said he expected to be tested out by the Sharks in his first NRL game since round two last year.

“No, not targeted too much mate. Any time you come back from a long-term injury, you expect to get it tested out a little bit,” he said.

“I’ll leave that on the field, you can have a look at the video.”

Scott said there are no mental demons as he returns to Suncorp Stadium to play Brisbane this Friday, the corresponding fixture in which he hurt his knee last year.

“My focus is still the same, to build on what I’ve done so far and play a few more minutes,” Scott said.

“There’s no mental demons around what happened last year, it could happen in any game.”

Cronulla is know for having a pack which likes to push the boundaries, and the sides have built a strong rivalry after playing each other in knockout finals the past three years.

But Sharks co-captain Wade Graham insisted the accusations are off the mark.

“I don’t think we were targeting anyone’s knees,” Graham said. “We weren’t targeting anyone to be honest. We know they have a great forward pack. Their starting middle is Jason Taumalolo, Matt Scott and Jordan McLean.

“They’re pretty big boys and you’ve got to go low on them.”