NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has publicy backed the NRL's referees to continue blowing penalties for player infringements in 2018.
It comes off the back of a frustrating grand final rematch between the Storm and the Cowboys on Thursday night which saw officials blow a whopping 20 penalties.
The extraordinary penalty count left experts divided over the referees' decision to keep blowing the whistle.
Cameron Smith and Craig Bellamy said the onus is on the players to fix the issue while Andrew Johns gave the officials a spray during Channel Nine’s half-time show.
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None of that compares to the opinion of the NRL boss who told Triple M's The Grill Team he supports the officials' decisions to continue blowing penalties.
“They’re going to keep blowing penalties and I’m going to keep giving them that direction,” Greenberg said.
“That might upset a few people but we are absolutely on the right track.
“If people want to come out this weekend and start ripping into the referees, I’ve got some advice for them: They’d better start ripping into me first because all the referees are doing is following instruction."
Numerous fans and experts took to social media to share their frustration at the stop-start nature of Thursday night's game.
This is a wonderful game of rugby league for those of you who love seeing nerdy little blokes blowing whistles and raising an arm to the horizontal.#NRLStormCowboys
— Former Legend (@Former_legend) March 22, 2018
Andrew Johns is getting stuck into the referee's because there's too many penalties.
— NothingButLeague (@NothingButRL) March 22, 2018
Is he right, or wrong?#NRLStormCowboys
I’m sick of all these friggen stoppages. It’s now like NFL #NRLStormCowboys
— BUZZ ROTHFIELD (@BuzzRothfield) March 22, 2018
The Tigers were a victim of the referees crackdown in round two with the club conceding 18 penalties in their victory over the Storm.
The NRL CEO says referees are trying to tidy up the game and fans shouldn't be criticising the increase in whistleblowing to eradicate player indiscretions.
“We’ve been very strong over the off season of making sure of two things; that the play the ball was cleaned up and they’ve done exactly what I’ve asked and to make sure the players are staying back onside and they’re doing exactly what I’ve asked," Greenberg said.
“The referees are doing exactly what they’ve been asked to do and the real challenge for the referees is to continue to do this for the entire year.
“I’ve asked the referees to make sure that it doesn’t just happen in Round 1 and 2 and 3, that it happens all year because ultimately it will make sure that the fans have a much greater game to watch.”
The rise in penalty counts in the opening rounds of 2018 has renewed calls for an introduction of the five-minute sin-bin rule.
The change to the rule could see repeat offenders sent to the bin for five minutes in a ploy to prevent players slowing down the game by giving away soft penalties.
Greenberg confirmed the NRL would discuss the potential to go a step further and introduce a further deterrent for the game.
“That committee will meet after the first quarter of the season- in about a month or so- and the first thing on that agenda will be around whether or not the changes that we’ve made are working," Greenberg said.
“If we need a stronger deterrent being an additional part of the sin bin then we’ll talk about it.”
The Storm defeated the Cowboys 30-14 at AAMI Park on Thursday with captain Cameron Smith kicking four penalty goals on the back of the whopping penalty count.
