St George Illawarra firebrand Josh McGuire want the NRL's failure to sin-bin Daniel Tupou to set the standard for the season after the Sydney Roosters winger copped a one-game ban.
The fallout of Tupou's hit on Mikaele Ravalawa continued on Tuesday, with the Rooster pleading guilty to a grade-two careless high tackle and the NRL again insisting he should have been binned.
Referee Adam Gee could also find himself in the firing line as a result, with the NRL unhappy he told the bunker the hit was not as bad as it looked before video officials reviewed it.
But McGuire, who served 10 games in bans after the NRL's crackdown on foul play last year, can see the upside.
After coach Anthony Griffin quipped that Tupou would have copped two years in jail for the same tackle in Magic Round last year, McGuire also joked he would have needed a good lawyer to avoid hard time given his reputation if he had made the tackle, but hoped it would send a precedent for future calls.
"He didn't get sent off because of the occasion, but I'm glad," McGuire said.
"If that's the precedent then stay like that. I'd rather it stay like that, I don't want to see people getting sent to the bin for a split-second decision on a football game.
"I am hoping next week they don't turn around and send someone for it. If it's the way it is, keep it the way it is."
The bad news for McGuire is it won't, with the NRL's head of football Graham Annesley making clear on Tuesday the game's position on head contact had not changed.
Annesley was also unhappy that Warriors prop Aaron Pene avoided the sin-bin for his contact that knocked Reimis Smith out later on Anzac Day.
That and the Tupou hit remain the only grade-two high tackles this year not to result in sin-bins.
"The rules haven't changed," Annesley stressed.
"When you look at them in any kind of objective assessment ... there is very little doubt both of those should have resulted in sin-bin outcomes.
"It's just a misjudgement. There is no other way to describe it.
"With the benefit of hindsight (the bunker) would make a different decision."
Pene has also accepted a one-game ban for his shot, while NRL CEO Andrew Abdo had made clear on Monday night he believed Tupou should have been sin-binned before the Warriors incident.
Annesley also said bunker officials were insistent they were not influenced by Gee's on-field advice that the hit was not too bad, but wanted referees to not make such comments in the future before video assessment.
The Dragons had also raised concerns about their claims of a hip drop from Jared Waerea-Hargreaves that injured Jaydn Su'A's ankle.
But the match review committee saw no reason to charge him, labelling the incident an accident when the fully-stretched prop fell sideways.
