'Never been worse': Wayne Bennett calls on refs to blow the whistle

Wayne Bennett has called for NRL referees to get tougher on go-slow tactics after South Sydney's rusty 14-6 Good Friday win over Canterbury at ANZ Stadium.

The master coach stopped short of calling for head office to revive its ill-fated crackdown, however, he said too many sides were getting away with too much in the ruck.

After watching his team play out a scoreless second half against the Bulldogs, Bennett said officials needed to be more willing to stop spoiling tactics which were ruining the spectacle.

"I don't intend to get myself fined here today," Bennett said.

"I've been a fan with what the refs have been trying to do: give us more football.

"You all saw today. That had a huge impact on the game, what was going on in the play-the-ball area.

"I've never been in an era of the game when the players are less compliant. They stretch everything they possibly can on the field."

Last year, the league demanded referees crack down on the play-the-ball and 10-metre rule.

It resulted in a surge in penalty numbers before a fan backlash led NRL CEO Todd Greenberg to order officials to put whistles in their pockets.

But Bennett said they had gone too far the other way and sides were getting away with too much.

He was rankled after Bulldogs playmaker Lachlan Lewis attempted to hold onto Souths skipper Sam Burgess' ankles in a tackle, which angered the Englishman and resulted in tempers boiling over and both sides coming together.

"The solution is ref what's in front of you. It's always been the solution," Bennett said.

Bennett's comments followed another ordinary performance from his side in their first outing since Greg Inglis' retirement.

The Rabbitohs repeatedly invited Dean Pay's side back into the game in the second half but still recorded their fifth win from six games to remain in the top four.

It was the first scoreless second half since round one in 2017 with Alex Johnston's 26th-minute try off a Damien Cook grubber proving the match winner.

The Dogs hadn't even touched the ball when Souths went 6-0 up thanks to a Campbell Graham try.

The Bulldogs looked like they had evened up when Kerrod Holland grounded a Jack Cogger grubber, however he was denied by the bunker after Dane Gagai was pushed in the back.

Pay later claimed it was Gagai who'd impeded Holland by changing his line and his side were hard done by.

"The first-half possession was really lopsided - that was our doing," Pay said.

"Some of the errors that we made, some of the 50-50s out there, we just don't get them at the moment.

"We've been on the road for four weeks and we haven't been copping them."