Despondent Bulldogs coach Des Hasler argued the NRL Bunker should have at least been called into play to rule on a contentious Josh Morris effort as Canterbury's season crumbled under a second-half blitz from the Panthers.

Trailing by 10 points and trying to swim against a black tide, Morris appeared to wrestle past Bryce Cartwright over the line and instant replays showed the ball might have kissed the chalk.

On-field officials Jared Maxwell and Chris James didn't refer the potential grounding to video review officials despite some minor protestations from Canterbury players, who thought it wasn't a double movement.

Asked for his view of the incident, Hasler said: "It was worth a look. We've got $2 million ... how much in technology? $2 million? $2.5 [million]? Is it worth a look? You're going to write the story. Is it worth a look? I think it is.

"It's not going to change. Could it have been pivotal? I don't know. But I think it was worth a look. I'm certainly not going to say it's the reason we lost the game."

That was more due to an electric second-half display from the Panthers, who piled on 24 unanswered points at one stage to oust a wounded Bulldogs from the finals.

Brett Morris aggravated a knee injury that sidelined him for the first half of the season, while Michael Lichaa and Josh Reynolds were both off the field temporarily for head assessments.

Hasler, who used one word "inconsistent" to sum up his side's season, was loathe to blame his side's exit on a glut of untimely injuries.

"The simple fact is we didn't compete well enough in the second half," Hasler said. "I know you're going to say there were injuries and there were people missing — Michael Lichaa missed 15 minutes, Josh Reynolds missed 15 minutes and B-Moz didn't finish the game — but there was too many missed tackles.

"We didn't compete well enough in the second half. I thought the first half was very willing. We've got an off season to think about it."

The Bulldogs' bumbling last month required them to be the first team to win the competition having dropped their last three regular-season games. And they never really looked like making it to base camp in the NRL's version of tackling Mt Everest.

They posed and postured in equal measure at various stages in the first half, but eventually ran out of puff as the Panthers confirmed their status as the competition's dark horse.

"It's a very difficult question to answer at the minute," captain James Graham said when asked about his side's season. "Obviously emotions are pretty high after it being over like that. As most seasons are, it's been a bit of a rollercoaster to be honest."

One they won't want to replicate any time soon.