Cronulla captain Cameron McInnes has raised concerns about the NRL's approach to high contact, calling for more consistency in the enforcement of rules.
With an increased focus this season on reducing high-contact incidents, referees are taking a firmer stance on penalties involving head and neck contact.
However, this stricter regulation has sparked worries among players and coaches about opponents exaggerating minor collisions to gain penalties.
Despite his team's challenges with penalties this season, McInnes advocates for players to maintain integrity rather than seek to manipulate the officiating.
"The penalties we give away that we can control, like offsides or hitting [opponents] in the face, things like that, you can't argue with, and we will keep working on the discipline," McInnes stated to the Sydney Morning Herald.
"In saying that, I believe that we get hit in the face just as much as other teams, but because we don't lie down, we don't get the penalties.
"But you know, as a member of this team and the captain, I'd much rather we play with that integrity than play for penalties."
While acknowledging that players do stay down after high contact, McInnes questioned the inconsistency in head injury assessment (HIA) protocols.
"Guys do stay down after they get hit high or in the face. That's fine; that's cool. You can stay down if you get hit in the face, but I thought that if you stay down for longer than 5-10 seconds, you had to go off for a HIA," he remarked.