JOHNATHAN Thurston just became the latest glaring example of referees giving preferential treatment to certain captains on the NRL field, leading league writer Paul Crawley says.

Veteran Daily Telegraph scribe Crawley, backed up by colleague Paul Kent, made the assertion on NRL 360 that Thurston had run roughshod over the refs in North Queensland's Round 1 golden point win over Canberra - something he wrote about in this column, adding that Storm captain Cameron Smith remained the master of controlling match officials.

“If you watch that game the other night, there’s no question in the world the Cowboys got the better of the 50-50 calls all night,” Crawley said.

“And Johnathan Thurston got the better of the referee.

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“There was an occasion during the game where Thurston walked up to Ben Cummins and he said, ‘You need to take control’. Now, the thing about that is that he’s questioning the performance of the referee and he’s criticising the performance of the referee.

“At the start of the season, Brian Canavan sent out a memo to all clubs saying they weren’t to do that. Does that mean every captain can now do that?”

Paul Kent said: “Alternatively, when Josh Hodgson went up to the referee, the referee pointed and said, ‘Go away’.”

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Johnathan Thurston dominated referee Ben Cummins in Round 1, Paul Crawley says. Source: Getty Images

Crawley said referees’ double standards in the treatment of captains were allowing certain teams to gain a competitive advantage and skippers must be given equal opportunity to speak.

“Trent Robinson spoke about it last year and it was about Ben Cummins again, when [the Dragons] played against the Roosters,” Crawley said.

“Robbo got fined $40,000 at the time ... during the post-match press conference he spoke about the disrespect Cummins had shown his players. He also spoke about the fact he wouldn’t look him in the eye, and he said the way he’d spoken to [captain] Jake Friend during the game was unacceptable.

“I reckon if Ricky Stuart had his time [again], he would have said that the other night after that game - but unfortunately, you can’t hear from the coaches anymore, you can’t hear from the players.

“You can hear from Johnathan Thurston.”

Raiders skipper Josh Hodgson was not shown due respect by the refs, Paul Kent says. Source: AAP

Kent said the NRL, specifically Canavan, needed to step in an address the issue.

“Brian Canavan hasn’t been sighted off Nobby’s - this is his area,” Kent said.

“This is where he sends out a memo and he says, ‘Look, please explain what you guys have done’. And he says to the referees, ‘Guys, it’s gotta be a fair system here’.

“I believe referees subconsciously - I don’t believe they deliberately do it - I think subsconsciously, like when you score a fight you tend to look at one fighter more than the other, they look at one team more than the look at the other and i think the team they expect to win gets 50-50 calls probably about 55-45 [per cent of the time].”

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ENNIS: TITANS MIGHT WAVE GOODBYE TO TROUBLED HAYNE

RETIRED star Michael Ennis has made the stunning suggestion Gold Coast could cut ties with Jarryd Hayne altogether if the cross-code star is damaging to the club.

Hayne has been in the crosshairs this week after news of his axing from the Titans’ leadership group and a pre-season fine emerged following a below-par game against the Roosters on Saturday.

Hayne has taken to social media to rubbish the stories, while coach Neil Henry and captain Ryan James were both reluctant to comment on the situation.

Now Ennis has told Triple M’s Deadset Legends the Titans “need to make a decision” on the star fullback’s future.

“I understand his ambitions. I get that and I think that it’s wonderful that he wants to achieve everything that he can with his sporting ability in the period of time he can do that,” Ennis said.

“Unfortunately rugby league’s a team game.

Jarryd Hayne training with the Titans. Source: News Corp Australia

“The perception with Jarryd at the moment is that he thinks he’s bigger than not only the game but also his club as well.

“The Titans have got a decision on their hands. He’s already come out and said he’s not committing to anything; he wants to look at all offers.

“The Titans need to make a decision because for me I thought the Titans were in a really good place (in 2016). They found out who they were, they were heading in the right direction and I think since the injection of Hayne last year with that superstardom that comes with him, I think they’ve gone backwards.

“There’s no doubt of his playing ability, no one’s questioning that. I don’t know if any other NRL side now will want to go there (sign Hayne).”

Ennis’ comments follow Fox Sports’ chief NRL reporter James Hooper revealing Hayne approach the Roosters during the off-season but was told his services weren’t required.

Hayne recently stated his future beyond his current contract is far from concrete, suggesting he could even leave rugby league again to try his hand at rugby union.

Ben Ikin, Nathan Ryan and Ben Glover are joined by Dragons recruitment boss Ian Millward to discuss the club’s recruitment plan and why it revolves around Ben Hunt.

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WHY YOUNG PANTHERS SHOULDN’T BE FAVOURITES

Former Penrith player Ryan Girdler says the young Panthers don’t deserve to be called premiership favourites just yet.

The Panthers suffered a big round one loss to the Dragons and Girdler wasn’t impressed.

“You need to be able to win a lot of different ways when you win a premiership and I don’t think Penrith has developed different ways to win the game,” Girdler told NRL Tonight.

“They should have changed when things weren’t going their way, their systems weren’t working, they were dropping the football.

“They still tried the big play and the big pass, and it was never going to work.

“I don’t think at the moment they’ve got the experience on the field to make changes on the run like they need to.

“Penrith don’t have all the tricks in the bag and for mine they shouldn’t be premiership favourites.”

WHY BEDSY STUCK WITH KNIGHTS

If loyalty in rugby league is now dead, Danny Buderus was perhaps the last example.

The representative hooker played 257 NRL games for Newcastle over a glittering career and revealed to NRL 360 he never once considered leaving the Hunter.

In fact he never even bother testing his value on the open market.

“It’s the best place in the world to play rugby league and I wouldn’t leave it for anything,” Buderus said.

“I was lucky enough just to roll over contracts and keep signing. I didn’t even want to test my market. Not once, not once. I just kept signing up.

“The town looks after you and hopefully that’s a lesson for someone out there.”

GRUB’S HUGE ASKING PRICE

Josh Reynolds is off contract and his future at Belmore is far from certain.

Fairfax Media is reporting the halfback is asking upwards of $800,000 a season on a new deal with the Bulldogs.

He headlines the club’s off-contract list alongside coach Des Hasler, Will Hopoate and Michael Lichaa.

“We’re in early discussions with our current roster,” Bulldogs boss Raelene Castle said.

EFFECT OF DROPPING A STAR

South Sydney has axed its two big boppers and 2014 premiership stars George and Tom Burgess to reserve grade.

The NRL 360 panel discussed what it feels like to see a big name in a club squad dropped from the side.

“Not only the playing ability but the effect on the group, what’s he got on the group?” Danny Buderus said.

“You see a star studded player or a big personality go down to reserve grade, what’s that do for your confidence? That’s the biggest thing, the effect on the group.”

The Burgess twins will drop back to play for North Sydney, and Bears legend Billy Moore recalled the same thing happening in his time.

“Back in my day the gap between firsts and reserves wasn’t much, so you could drop back there and work on things,” Moore said.

“You were around the senior playing group all the time anyway and you could almost see across the other training park — that’s what happens when you don’t perform.”

JENKO’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY

Michael Jennings this week celebrates the 10th anniversary of his NRL debut.

And, as the rugby league circle turns, fate has reunited him with Frank Pritchard and trainer Ronnie Palmer at Parramatta this year.

The veteran centre said Palmer helped him through his latest pre-season significantly.

“I haven’t had a pre-season starting in November for a couple of years. Last year, starting in November, it was good to get six weeks of tough training in,” Jennings told the Eels website..

“It is good to have Ronnie back, he always trains me hard. I have shred some kilos and I’ve been going good on my fitness.”