But they need to ignore the self-interest of coaches and the agendas of others who will whack NRL management if given half the chance. The referees should never be embarrassed about enforcing the rules of the game. What insanity that they can be so heavily criticised for doing so. And what of the amnesia many of us have suddenly developed? Some say referee Matt Cecchin — or his superiors — ruined the Thursday night blockbuster between Melbourne and Cronulla. What about "the spectacle" it could’ve been?! Taking control: Matt Cecchin lays down the law to Storm skipper Cameron Smith. Credit:AAP

From memory, these two teams have in the past done a great job of butchering "the spectacle" all on their own, from the wrestle and slow play-the-ball to them constantly standing offside. For years, many fans have angrily wanted the Storm reined in over their dominance at the ruck. They have grown tired of captain Cameron Smith chirping away at the referee with impunity. Then the officials decide to do something about it. They clean up the play-the-ball. They penalise players for standing offside, especially when defending their own try line. They finally see through Smith and dispatch him to the sin bin. Our reaction: the referees are ruining the game and Greenberg must go! Honestly, nine-year-olds on Easter Show sugar highs whinge less. After the match, Channel Nine expert Phil Gould suggested Cecchin had blown 33 penalties to make a point with his superiors. In other words, that the game’s best referee is not happy with Bernard Sutton becoming referees boss, a move that saw Tony Archer moved into a broader role.

Loading The refs have been a divided club for some years, something former referee and Roosters fullback Luke Phillips hinted at when Michael Maguire was made referees coach in November. “Hopefully he has the balls to stand up to Archer, (Bernard) Sutton and (Russell) Smith or nothing will change,” Phillips tweeted. Politics aside, it seems extraordinary that Cecchin would sabotage the Sharks-Storm "spectacle" with incessant penalties simply to make a point with his bosses. Not all fans are so fickle about the current crackdown. A flood of emails and messages via social media to this column have applauded the enforcement of the game’s rules.

I once asked Archer about the mind-numbing deterioration of the ruck, with players merely rolling it between their legs like its touch football instead of attempting to strike it with their foot, as stated in the rulebook. “We are really cracking down on it this year,” Archer insisted. That was two years ago. The play-the-ball deteriorated further. In June last year, there was an admission from the competition committee that something had to change. In November, it was crystallised into policy. An edict! A crackdown! The, er, rules! The committee includes Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga, Darren Lockyer, Ivan Cleary and Paul Green. No dunces.

The main reason for the crackdown, according to those in the meeting, was Sharks big man Andrew Fifita, who was merely getting to one knee to roll the ball between his legs. Referees were too gun-shy to penalise him because if they started penalising him then they would have to start penalising others. Let’s make the point again: the insanity of officials being too scared to enforce the rules of the game. So now the whinge is about players being pinged for offside when they’re, um, offside. Because the rhythm and flow and whatever else of the defensive line are all out of whack. Loading Dragons coach Paul McGregor had a refreshing take on that: “You can make sure you’re not offside, can’t you? Don’t take another step.” As another coach offers: “When you’re defending your line, it’s not that hard: put your foot on the line.”

That said, the referees need to use a little bit of common sense before blowing the pea out of their whistle. Dragons winger Jason Nightingale was penalised for standing offside against the Knights on Sunday, nowhere near the play. The day before, the Warriors gave away penalty after penalty leading into halftime against the Roosters. Centre Peta Hiku was penalised on the Warriors’ line for a hand in the ruck. Seconds later, five-eighth Blake Green was struggling back in defence on the blindside, standing marginally offside, away from the play before the Roosters shifted back towards where he was standing. He was clutching his groin. Referee Henry Perenara blew the pea out of the whistle and hauled captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in front of him.

“We’re working hard,” Tuivasa-Sheck said, hands on his knees because he was, well, buggered. “Stand up when I am talking to you for a start, mate,” Perenara said. “You have been working hard. For 30 minutes you’ve been working well. The last 10 minutes, especially in this area, you’ve been poor. You need to fix it because if you don’t …” “Are we poor making it back or waiting for the release?” “In the ruck and in the 10. You’ve had five down here alone. You need to fix it because you are not going to like what I do next.” Why not use the sin-bin, then? Five times is too much. Maybe do it after the third penalty. Maybe sin-bin Hiku, whose illegal act was "cynical" while Green's was "I'm stuffed here, I need a break and my groin hurts and I am nowhere near the play."