Rugby league has been the love of his life, but NRL legend Peter Sterling admits he has frustratingly switched off the television on more than one occasion this season with the sound of the referee’s whistle ringing in his ears.

It could have been a week of appraisal for the whistleblowers after the fluency of State of Origin was commended with just five penalties blown throughout the entire 80 minutes.

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Yet it took just 11 minutes for the same amount of penalties to be handed down in the first fixture of Round 14 between Canberra and Penrith.

So here we are.

Phil Gould started the fire with a sarcastic swipe at the adjudicators for their efforts on Friday night, concerned about the lack of entertainment in two mundane spectacles.

Really enjoyed Friday Night Refereeing tonight. Every now and then the football threatened to get in the way, but to their credit, the refs were having none of that. They kept the whistle blowing. Referee coaches should feel proud of their team. Well done to all concerned. — Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) June 8, 2018

Sterling referred to his co-worker's outburst, joining the chorus of attacks on the stop-start nature that has favoured defensive teams who are taking any measure to slow down the ruck.

‘’I loved Wednesday night and I think it showed what our game could and should be,’’ Sterling told Channel Nine’s Footy Show.

‘’It’s giving me everything the game and I can see joy in even the worst games but I’ve stopped watching some this year because I’ve been that frustrated because there’s been no rhythm in the game.

‘’We have to understand, especially with the penalties, that the side who gets the penalty that they don’t want (it). First tackle, they’re getting a quick play-the-ball or they’re on a roll, the whistle blows and they give them a penalty, the defence gets set – it’s counterproductive to the team that’s actually getting the penalty!

‘’We’ve got to get that understanding in our officials.

‘’I was hoping that maybe on the back of what we saw on Wednesday night that maybe it might change but two nights later it’s tough viewing.

"It hurts me to say that the game this season is the hardest to watch as a spectator, that I've ever seen.’’

"It hurts me to say that the game this season, is the hardest to watch as a spectator, that I've ever seen" - Sterlo unleashes. #9NRLSFS pic.twitter.com/rRtNPpin4G — Sunday Footy Show (@SundayFootyShow) June 10, 2018





In Round 14, an average of 13.9 penalties have been blown in each game so far – almost nine more than State of Origin.

Watching on from the commentary box at CBUS Super Stadium during a penalty-filled Titans-Rabbitohs clash, Immortal Andrew Johns argued playmakers are being held back by the whistle in their abilities to create points.

‘’You can blow a penalty every ruck if you want to because teams are trying to slow down the play-the-ball,’’ Johns said.

‘’But you’ve got to manage it and have some empathy for the teams, for the players.

‘’…I spoke to Robbie Farah off camera. I said, ‘Robbie, it’s your second game of first grade, you’ve been playing in the lower grades, how were you out there, were you knackered? He said, ‘no, not at all, it’s stop-start and I’m getting my breath back all the time’.

‘’How do the halfbacks and the scheming players – the little guys – get around the ruck? How are they supposed to make an impact on the game when the blokes who are 115kg get a rest every three minutes? They get a 45 second rest.

‘’I think they’re being told to do this from above. Whoever is telling them to do this, stop it. It’s easy, stop it.’’

Paul Vautin added his two cents.

‘’I feel the referees have lost a feel for the game that we’re playing. They really have,’’ he said.

‘’A lot of these guys are young referees, they’ve just lost a feel for the game.’’