Wayne Bennett has blasted the NRL over the use of the bunker to rewind play and go back several tackles to award penalties, with the veteran coach questioning who is actually refereeing games.
In a fiery 12-minute press conference, Bennett led a charge of support for the NRL's crackdown on high tackles and the need to sin-bin players for foul play.
But what he will not cop is the bunker stepping in to enforce it at the end of sets, going back several plays for high shots or dangerous tackles.
South Sydney's 32-22 win over Cronulla on Saturday evening was plagued by the issue, with the Sharks copping a rough call late to end their hopes of a memorable comeback.
The issue has also popped up several times across Magic Round, after the NRL started taking the approach from the start of this season.
And South Sydney coach Bennett claimed the process is damaging the game, stopping momentum and ruining any attempts to speed the match up.
"You've got to understand that the game relies on momentum," Bennett said.
"For the game to be attractive it needs to have momentum in it and every time you stop the game it breaks the momentum.
"When the game stops for three minutes, these guys recover and you have to start it all over again.
"It's a game of attrition and you need to keep at each other for four or five sets to get the game you want.
"They've changed a whole lot of rules to get this game but put a whole lot of other stuff in that's preventing that from happening."
Bennett warned the stoppages would hurt the league with casual viewers switching channels while players also claimed after they could feel the 'air' go out of the stadium.
"We're in the entertainment business," Bennett said.
"If I'm sitting at home with a remote control, I can go to any channel I want.
"There was about four of them tonight where we let the game go on then we went back.
"Who's reffing the game now? Is it the bunker?
"The bunker's there for the support of the referees. If the ref doesn't see it they can pick it up and charge the player tomorrow."
Bennett has, however, told the NRL to stay the course on the head-high crackdown, claiming similar approaches have worked in the past with grapple tackles and punches.
And while he does not necessarily agree players should always be sin-binned, he has backed Peter V'landys' action.
"The AFL won't accept it. You touch anybody above the shoulders you're in trouble. Rugby union made a huge change two years ago," Bennett said.
"When are we going to get the message in our game? When we get liable cases against us in 10 years, case after case because the game did nothing?
"Is that what we're going to do?
"We're going to drive more parents away and not letting their kids play because in our game it's OK to knock somebody out with a head high?"
Australian Associated Press
