NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg has conceded referees have been prone to 'nitpicking' during the 2018 season, and announced plans for NRL clubs to get salary cap relief if a star player suffers a long-term injury while on rep duty.
Greenberg also announced a new directive that will also give referees more power to sin bin players who are responsible for late hits on playmakers.
The NRL boss, alongside Australian Rugby League Commissioner Peter Beattie, spoke to assembled media at the NRL’s Moore Park headquarters.
Greenberg: Referees have been 'nitpicking'
"I don't want referees looking for penalties, I want them to continue to police those areas," Greenberg said in a press conference on Tuesday.
"I would like to see referees find the balance more often, not look for penalties and adjudicate accordingly.
"When you make change it takes time, the greater resistance you feel the greater change you're making.
"The play-the-ball and lack of ability for players to make a genuine attempt to play the ball was something that was not good last year.
"At times I've seen some over-officiating, that doesn't please me but we have to find the balance."
Referees to crack down on late tackles
Players can now be sin-binned for foul play, with Greenberg confirming the NRL's move to eliminate 'dog shots' on ball players.
There will be a crackdown on late tackles to protect kickers who are vulnerable after they have kicked the ball.
Most recently, Panthers playmaker Nathan Cleary was wiped out by Raiders prop Charlie Gubb on Friday.
"I'm not going to sit and critique every incident from last week and the week before," Greenberg said.
"We want to protect our players, and when we see players being hit late and put in a difficult position, we expect the referees to act.
"If a really poor tackle is made on the field, then they have the ability to enforce the sin bin.
"We could have waited until the end of the season, but we thought it was pragmatic to (make the change) in the middle of the season.
"These are serious incidents... really significant tackles that are made off the ball. Players can expect to be sin binned."
"Any game that doesn't protect it's stars doesn't deserve a soul," Beattie added.
"If we don't protect them in the game, then we're not doing our job."
Salary cap relief for rep stars
Greenberg and Beattie also announced clubs have been enabled to purchase replacements for a player ruled out for a minimum of 12 matches because of an injury sustained in a representative match.
NRL clubs will get salary cap relief of up to up to $350,000 if a star player suffers a long-term injury in a Test or State of Origin.
A high profile case that would fall under the new cap relief scheme would have involved Canberra Raiders hooker Josh Hodgson, who is expected to return in round 17 from a knee injury sustained while playing for England during last year’s World Cup.
Under the new scheme, the Raiders could have retained Kurt Baptiste, or signed another replacement. Instead, they have had to draw deep into the depth of their squad.
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