Phil Gould has taken aim at the NRL officiating, conceding a crucial decision late in Friday night's semi-final between the Storm and Roosters was a 'worrying' sign for the game.
Ashley Klein has become the talk of the rugby league world in the days following the fixture, which saw Melbourne escape with an 18-13 victory at AAMI Park and set up a prelim final encounter with reigning premiers Penrith.
The most talked-about decision of the night came when Klein missed a blatant knock-on from Harry Grant on his own line, allowing the Storm to march up the field and add their second try - one that ultimately decided the scoreline.
However, it wasn't the last piece of controversy involving the Maroons and Kangaroos dummy-half, who copped a high tackle with less than five minutes remaining that would have allowed the Storm to take a penalty goal.
Instead, Klein and the Bunker both opted to allow play to continue, despite the 25-year-old begging for a penalty, before moments later Will Warbrick scored the match-winning try to erase the issue.
MORE: Roosters coach Trent Robinson reacts to 'heartbreaking' finals exit
Phil Gould takes aim at NRL officials after Storm-Roosters match
Speaking on 100% Footy on Monday night, Gould admitted the non-call over Grant's fumble wasn't anywhere near as big of an issue as the high tackle, which proved a deep-rooted systemic problem in the officiating process.
"That's an outlier, every now and then they're going to make a blooper like that, they'll miss a tackle count or they'll miss a knock on... I don't worry about those sort of things, that's human nature," he said.
"The one I'm worried about is where he got clocked on the chin in front of the posts - the system was put under the test, the whole system that all year has been penalising, sin binning, charging and suspending players all year.
"In your biggest game, in your biggest moment, one point behind, in front of the posts, they couldn't pull the pin. If you can't give the penalty there under the process that you've used all year then stop giving it week to week to week.
"There are people that have been penalised, sin binned, charged and suspended that are looking at it and saying 'What the hell?'. When you're going to change rules, imagine it's three minutes to go in a grand final and it happens in front of the posts. Do you penalise it then?
"Whether it's a strip, a high tackle, any sort of tackle. If you can't give the penalty then, then the rule is bad and the rule should not be right throughout the season.
"What we have is a certain standard right throughout the season that gets thrown away for Origin, that gets thrown away for finals... the system fails."
Gould did claim the decision not to penalise Sam Walker for the high shot was perhaps the right call, but underlined the inconsistent nature of the NRL match officials over the course of the season.
Klein is reportedly set to be axed from on-field duties for the preliminary finals, with Adam Gee now seemingly on track to referee the grand final on October 1st.
