Jamie Soward's concerns about playmakers being taken out cynically and illegally have been echoed by a Super League player who says he received a neurosurgeon's advice the practice could leave him with permanent brain damage. "Another late hit on a playmaker in the NRL," Penrith's Soward told Triple M on Friday night after a tackle by Parramatta's Pauli Pauli left him with a serious shoulder injury. A day later, a late hit forced off Widnes' Kevin Brown during the Magic Weekend clash with Salford. "It's creeping in more and more," Brown tells Set of Six. "I've been knocked out five times in the last two years and most of it's from the whiplash. I went to see a neurosurgeon and he says this type of tackle is the one that's the most dangerous because you don't see it coming. He was saying you can't have too many more of these because you can do some long-term damage. Today it wasn't concussion, he hit me lower, but it's still a cheap shot." 3. You said what? Imagine the reaction of the integrity unit if an NRL coach was caught on camera calling a referee a "f---ing bent bastard" from his box. That's exactly what happened to Wigan coach Shaun Wane as his side beat Leeds on Saturday. Wane was filmed apparently using the expression when referee Phil Bentham sent a possible Wigan try upstairs to be checked.

Challenged in the media conference about the outburst, Wane said: "What's your question? I'm watching the game. I thought Phil Bentham is the best referee in the comp. I thought he was great today. There were lots of times he could have pulled it up for things and he didn't, he let the game flow. I watch the game and I'm focused on the game. What I say, I wouldn't have a clue. I wouldn't have a clue what I said during the game. Do you believe me?" 4. First Sam Moa, now Paea Sydney Roosters had so much success bringing Sam Moa back from Super League, they've now recalled another Tongan. Micky Paea, the Hull player who has signed for Newcastle, tells Set Of Six his bother Lopini is returning from Wakefield to Bondi Junction – where he first made a name for himself. "My brother went home a few days ago," Micky Paea said. "He got the opportunity to finish his career at the Roosters. They sort of looked after him there and sort something out for him post-career and just take advantage of the funding of the NRL. The opportunity doesn't always come around – it's the same reason I'm going. Mum is stoked we're all coming back, it's been five or six years since we've all been together." Lopini is 31. 5. Griffin brothers in strife

Picture yourself playing rugby league in front of a big crowd just four days after the death of your father, at the age of 58 from a heart attack – and getting sent off. Not only that, your brother gets a stint in the sin bin. That's what happened to Salford's Darrell Griffin in the opening game of the Magic Weekend at St James' Park – he got his marching orders near halftime for a swinging arm and brother Josh finished the game in the sin bin for fighting. It was the first time they had played in first grade together with their brother George and there was an impeccably observed minute's silence from 40,871 fans before kick-off. The red and yellow cards weren't the only things that went wrong after that – the Red Devils were lapped 38-16 by Widnes. 6. For the last time