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There are times when those who are supposed to nurture and grow the NRL instead contribute to the impression that an excellent game is in a state of perpetual crisis.
The seemingly
premature registration of Brisbane Broncos prop Matthew Lodge was just one recent example where the game's administration parked a fuel tanker next to a dynamite factory.
And then there are those occasions when the NRL enacts the sensible policy needed to improve the game, yet still somehow finds itself in the middle of a controversy concocted by the crisis merchants determined to find gloom and doom in every situation.
And so after just four rounds, the NRL stands accused of the heinous "how can they live with themselves" crime of — enforcing the rules!
An edict that referees strictly police ruck infringements and the ten metre rule is the obvious and overdue response to years of complaints about wrestling at the play-the-ball and defences constantly creeping off-side.
Stricter policing of these rules should minimise the dark arts of tackling, increase the speed of the play-the-ball and give attacking teams more space in which to run and create. Laudable objectives that serve fans well.
There is a strong case that the corrective measure, particularly an unusually high penalty count that is noticeably disrupting the flow of some games, is the result of previous inaction.
Arguably, the NRL should have cleaned house long ago and teams would have adapted accordingly.
But had they done so there would have been a similar sense of outrage from those now condemning the authorities for simply making players conform to basic rules.
It's a no-win situation
This is a position the NRL must constantly endure — damned if it does, damned if it doesn't by the professional malcontents determined to find the dark cloud outside every silver lining.
Attempt to build a great new stadium and the NRL is abandoning the games "great suburban tradition".
Invest wisely in long-term projects and it is "wasting money that should be spent on grass roots".
Bring the game's self-serving war lords to heel and it is "disrespecting the great club men." And so it goes.
Accordingly, many of the critics now moaning about inflated penalty counts were the same ones who spent years forensically examining video for evidence that NRL forwards were merely Greco-Roman wrestlers in sponsored jerseys.
As a demonstration of how infectious the nay-saying can become, even the usually non-confrontational Nine commentator Andrew Johns has joined the chorus of discontent.
Unimpressed by the 24 penalties awarded during the South Sydney-Canterbury Bulldogs game on Friday,
Johns expressed his disgust on social media.
"Whoever is at the top of the NRL hang your head. The game belongs not to you or the players. It belongs to the fans who pay to watch. Waiting for response Todd," he wrote on Instagram.
