Mitchell Moses sent official warning by NRL following Easter Monday antics

Tensions were high on Easter Monday during a golden point thriller between the Parramatta Eels and Wests Tigers, which saw plenty of big calls being made by referee Peter Gough.

Eyebrows were raised at NRL headquarters upon review of the fiery fixture, where it was picked up that Eels skipper Mitchell Moses touched Gough three times when he went up to question his rulings.

It is being reported by the Daily Telegraph that the NRL's Match Review Committee has issued Moses with an official warning about touching referees.

Despite all the incidents on Monday not being aggressive in nature, the rules are still in place for players not to touch the referee under any circumstances.

Moses was also issued with a ‘concerning act notice' surrounding his emotive approaches to referees during this season, contributing to being pulled up by the NRL management. 

There were plenty of heated discussions during the match at CommBank Stadium, and the NRL monitoring teams were closely monitoring the situation as they attempt to reinforce the rules surrounding player and referee contact.

There was a significant crackdown on touching the referees in the 2016 season, where we saw many stars fined for touching the referees during games.

It included Kieran Foran, Sam McKendry, James Roberts and Tyson Frizell, all fined during that year.

Tigers star Jarome Luai was also fined for touching Chris Sutton during a try celebration in 2023. 

One of the fiery discussions at CommBank Stadium surrounded Moses wanting to challenge a call during the first half, where he believed he wasn't allowed to challenge Gough's ruling.

It happened when Jack Williams was deemed to have lost the ball close to the line, despite him believing he was tackled and was simply playing the ball. 

The call went against Parramatta, and Moses expressed his frustration with the call in the post-match press conference.

“(Williams) felt like he was held and had about four players on him so he's tried to get up and play the ball", Moses said. 

“And then a bloke has come flying in, so I asked to challenge it, and he (Gough) said he hadn't called held yet. So there was no point in me challenging it because I was never going to win it. I don't know.

“He pretty much told me not to challenge it because he told me he hadn't said held. There was no way I was going to win that. But it's not why we lost.”

The star halfback wears his pride on his sleeve and is extremely passionate about the blue and gold.

Despite the slip-up, there was no malice in his breach and he will not be issued a fine by NRL officials.