Andrew Fifita says the niggle is here to stay – and he will happily bait a rival player and wear one on his chin if it means the Sharks can exploit a numerical advantage in the finals.

The controversial and unrepentant Cronulla enforcer brushed off criticism from league legend Peter Sterling, who was referring to Fifita when he said, "there are some players in the game who deadset need to have one put on their chin".

And Fifita appears keener than most for Sterling's wish to be granted, indicating it was open slather on league's taunting tactics due to the NRL's no punching edict.

"The game's come pretty much to a stop with no violence and you can do whatever you want to be honest," Fifita said. "You can really get into someone and they're not going to punch you otherwise they're going to let down their team. If I can make them hit me I'll take one on the chin to make them go to 12 and get the man advantage. That's what the game has come to at the moment."