IT seems that Gus can say what he likes, when he likes.

And the NRL won’t do a thing.

Phil Gould spoke for most league fans when he branded the NRL an “embarrassment”, but the governing body refused to step in and fine or reprimand the Panthers general manager of football — or even respond.

In an extraordinary outburst from a clearly frustrated Gould, he told Sky Sports Radio: “I fear for the future of the game with the people we have in charge at the moment, honestly.”

Normally an NRL club official would face a fierce rebuke from the governing body over such inflammatory comments.

But over at League HQ there seems to be a cloudy area that exists where Gould’s comments are accepted as a member of the media, not the general manager of the Panthers.

Gould took aim at this week’s Jack Wighton judiciary farce, calls for the under 20s to be scrapped and suggestions clubs will not be able to sign players to NRL contracts until they are aged 18.

“The people that are doing this have got absolutely no idea what they’re doing,” Gould said of the latter.

Gould watched on as Canberra fullback Wighton faced a four-match ban over a shoulder charge but was instead exonerated by a three-man judiciary panel in just five minutes.

The NRL’s match review panel sparked anger when it charged Wighton but Cronulla’s Michael Ennis avoided the same fate despite committing an apparent shoulder charge last weekend.

“The people at head office have got to understand that to the average man, to the punter in the street, to the person who follows this game week in, week out, they can’t see any discernible difference between the impact of Michael Ennis and of Wighton,” Gould said.

“Therefore, why was one charged and not the other.

“In my rule book neither gets charged. Neither tackle is illegal. Whether or not it’s a penalty on the day for Ennis tackling a man late, that’s besides the point. I’m glad that Wighton got off, I don’t think he should’ve been charged.

“Having said that there will be a lot of players sitting at home who’ve had to sit out one or two weeks on sidelines for so-called shoulder charges who will be looking at these decisions and saying ‘why the hell did I get a suspension’ and that’s the part fans don’t forget. And we in football don’t forget. And that’s the frustration of dealing with these people.”

That's how fans will see it .. Which means embarrassing for NRL and our game https://t.co/CR784sgf4w — Phil Gould (@Gus10Gould) September 6, 2016

Gould called for accountability after the NRL’s bizarre attempt to explain the difference between the two incidents.

“To go through the embarrassment of coming out at the time of charging Wighton (and releasing) a detailed description of why he was guilty and why Ennis wasn’t — to then have it turned over by their own judiciary, I think just embarrasses the code.

“Someone needs to be held accountable for that.

“The whole shoulder charge thing has been an issue ever since it was first raised a few years ago and they’ve tried to out law it. I’ve never really heard a definitive interpretation of it and this week has just been embarrassing for the game.”

The embarrassing part was the NRL didn’t choose to defend itself.