Jul 31st, 2016

Jul 31st, 2016

North Queensland coach Paul Green is unlikely to face NRL sanction over his criticism of referee Ben Cummins in the wake of the Cowboys' loss to Melbourne.

Green was unhappy with a number of calls in the 16-8 defeat in Townsville on Saturday night and referenced Sydney Roosters mentor Trent Robinson's tirade against the whistleblower earlier this year in his post-match comments.

Robinson was fined $40,000 for his Anzac Day outbursts, having blasted Cummins in the tunnel then slammed him in his media conference when he accused the referee of being habitually disrespectful when speaking to his players.

Green's comments will be reviewed by the NRL but, given he did not question Cummins' integrity, the 2015 premiership winning coach is unlikely to be sanctioned.

"There were a number of 50-50 calls that didn't go our way," Green said.

"There was a lot of discussion earlier in the year from the Roosters' coach Trent Robinson about the way the head ref Ben Cummins engages with players.

"I thought there was probably evidence of that again tonight.

"I thought we were entitled to query some of those decisions, particularly when you see the replays.

"There were a couple of contentious calls there, which I can cop, as long as they go both ways," Green said.

Cowboys stand-in skipper Matt Scott echoed Green's frustrations, saying the rub of the green went Melbourne's way.

"A couple of the calls that I thought were incorrect, you look at the replays and you see a foot hit the ball out of Jango (Bowen)'s hand," Scott said.

"I'm asking (Cummins) `shouldn't he be allowed room to play in the ruck?' And I'm just getting blown off.

"That's a bit hard to cop when I see the replays showing I'm correct."

©AAP2016