LeagueNews.co | Cooper McEnroe
Billy Slater has thrown his hat in the ring, calling for a bit of a shake-up in the NRL rules following the recent uproar surrounding Stephen Crichton's incident.
The former footy great wants the bunker to ease off on sin-binning players and leave it up to the NRL judiciary to dish out punishments for high tackles, mate.
After Round 25 served up a few controversial calls, especially around high shots and players being sin-binned, Slater is adamant that match officials need to tighten up their game.
With hefty scrutiny over the consistency of punishments for high tackles in recent weeks, the pressure is on.
In the latest round, Roosters old-timer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves copped a hefty three-match ban for a high shot, while Sharks star Jesse Ramien got a one-game slap on the wrist.
However, with a whopping 30 penalties handed out for high tackles across the round, and multiple players sin-binned but dodging suspension, things are getting a bit messy on the field.
Even though Crichton dished out a shocking high shot that saw Warriors ace Roger Tuivasa-Sheck knocked out of the game, he managed to escape the sin bin.
The incident seemed worse than a hit from Manly's Haumole Olakau'atu the night before, which landed the Sea Eagles lad in hot water.
But the bunker official decided Crichton's hit wasn't worth 10 minutes on the bench.
Nevertheless, he copped a one-game ban from the match review committee later on.
Slater reckons the way high shots are being handled could send the game down the gurgler and potentially shaft a team's season before the finals.
The Maroons coach is calling for the NRL to tell the bunker to play it safe with sin bins and leave the heavy lifting to the match review committee, cobber.