The NRL world was in a media frenzy last Thursday night, after the Penrith Panthers were penalised for a blocking play that would have otherwise won them the match over the Melbourne Storm.
Moses Leota made contact with Storm skipper Harry Grant as he rushed to halt a field goal from Nathan Cleary in the dying moments of the match.
The Panthers went on to lose the game just a few minutes later, with Grant going on to score the match-winning try.
Many fans and analysts believe Grant milked the contact with Leota, sparking talk of players manipulating the rulebook.
Queensland Maroons coach and former Storm fullback Billy Slater has weighed in on the topic, warning referees in the process.
"Moses Leota was in an illegal position, and Harry played up to it. He obviously played for the penalty," he told Nine's The Billy Slater Podcast.
Slater believes that match officiating should be black and white, lest there be room for error or hesitation from referees.
"There's two lines of thinking here: was it a penalty? Yes, you can't stand there. It is an illegal play, and those rules have been enforced over the last two years,” Slater argued.
"If you want to argue if you don't like the actions of Harry Grant, that is a totally different story.
"If you're going to start refereeing the game on whether you like the actions of players, and what intention the players have, you are starting to get into dangerous territory.“
He also highlighted areas where referees are lacking, believing many judge calls based on intention, not action.
"There were a couple of incidents over the weekend with some tries that were awarded that looked like obvious obstructions to me,” Slater declared.
"Because referees are starting to think about the intentions of players, rather than just refereeing the game on the rules, they are starting to get clouded, and we are starting to get inconsistencies with these rulings.”
The NRL legend offered a simple solution to the various inconsistencies with match officiating.
"The rules are the rules. Referee the rules and forget about the player's intentions and the game will flow a lot easier, we won't get these grey areas in these conversations,” Slater said.
