JAMES Maloney has emerged as the unlikely Cronulla Shark to throw his support behind the referees.

The Sharks’ five-eighth was sin-binned close to halftime in Sunday’s 15-14 elimination final loss to North Queensland, which ended the reigning premiers’ hopes of back-to-back premierships.

His coach Shane Flanagan was handed a breach notice and a $30,000 fine for his subsequent post-match blow-up, as the club continued the attack on its website.

Maloney was controversially sin-binned late in the first-half. Source: AAP

Round 19

One of the most penalised players in the game and the man happy to take the fight to the governing body when it comes to the Rugby League Players’ Association pay war, Maloney said he could almost sympathise with the NRL’s push to protect whistleblowers.

“As soon as you start criticising refs, they’re in a tough position,’’ Maloney said.

“That stems down to how referees in junior footy and grassroots (are treated).

“The refs have got to be respected, and it’s a dangerous precedent when you start having shots at them with where it leads to down the path.

“Then there’s the other side where people want to see some accountability from the referees, that’s the issue for people.

“But at the end of the day I’m a big believer that the refs don’t decide footy games, regardless of how things go.

“They’re out there trying to do their best regardless.

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“If they do get it the wrong way, I’m sure it’s not intentional at all.

“In 80 minutes, when you look back, there’s a lot of things you could have done differently to change the result. You live with it, move on and do it all again next year.’’

Maloney did not complain about his sin-binning for obstructing a kick-chaser, confirming players had been warned about “escorts on kicks’’.

LISTEN! Fans are angry and confused: Referee decisions dominated a thrilling first weekend of the finals as the Sharks defence came to an end and the Eels showed they are premiership threats. The MONDAY BUNKER crew dissect the action.

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Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga unveiled his Prime Minister’s XIII team and said of the ref rage: “It was such a great weekend of rugby league. The papers and media this week have just talked about the referees performance and fines that have been imposed.

“Everyone in the game needs to step back and have a think about how lucky we are to be involved.’’

Maloney was named in Meninga’s PM’s XIII team and the five-eighth said he was hopeful of getting the nod for the World Cup later in the year, especially with regular No. 6 Johnathan Thurston sidelined.

Despite being regularly linked to other clubs, Maloney said he was returning to honour the final year of his Sharks deal, and had a meeting scheduled with Flanagan today.