Roosters coach Trent Robinson has described a high-shot penalty against Nat Butcher as ‘laughable’ during his side’s 14-6 win over the Storm, and argued referees are looking at the wrong things in NRL matches.

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Butcher was penalised in the 55th minute for a dangerous tackle on Melbourne’s Alec MacDonald, in an incident where he barely grazed the Melbourne second rower’s hair.

One of two incidents now under the microscope in the wake of the low-scoring affair, the apparent high shot led to the Storm finally breaking through for their first points of the game, in a series of events that left Robinson shaking his head afterwards.

The Roosters’ Nat Butcher is penalised for an apparent high shot on Melbourne’s Alec MacDonald.Source: FOX SPORTS

“Honestly. I mean how do you fine that?” said Robinson.

“Why would a referee even look at that… I mean it was laughable, it was completely laughable.

“And look you’ve got to defend it. There was some things that went our way against it but if they have an error on that, and you’re looking at that? You’re looking at the wrong thing.”

Roosters fill-in skipper Victor Radley couldn’t believe what he was seeing in the aftermath of the penalty. Originally, he said he was contemplating telling Butcher not to express his frustration on-field, but upon seeing the footage, he too was outraged.

“It went up on the big screen quickly and Nat was blowing up at the time. I was thinking, ‘Oh mate, be quiet’. And then I saw it on the big screen and thought he’s got a right to blow up,” Radley told reporters.

“We should have defended it though, which is disappointing.”

Roosters’ Wet-Weather WIN | 04:47

Braith Anasta strongly believes the Roosters should not have been awarded a penalty over the tackle.

The Fox League panel agreed.

“That’s brushing his hair, just a couple of hairs out of place,” joked Cooper Cronk.

“It’s no-where near a penalty,” added Michael Ennis. “It was one moment where momentum swings, and for a side that had absolutely no field position they just grew in confidence on the back of that.”

In a separate incident, Ennis highlighted the referee’s decision not to blow a penalty after the Roosters took too long to take a line drop out.

The Roosters’ Nat Butcher is penalised for an apparent high shot on Melbourne’s Alec MacDonald.Source: FOX SPORTS

Ennis drew the comparison between the incident and a costly one which occurred against the Warriors last month. Seventeen minutes into the Warriors’ 10-8 loss to the Sharks, they conceded a shot clock penalty when Chanel Harris-Tavita failed to take a drop out before the shot clock buzzer rang out around Go Media Stadium.

Ennis called for the NRL to show more consistency in adjudicating.

“The Warriors made real noise about this a couple of weeks ago. At 8-6 there’s a drop-out and I’m sure the buzzer went. If you’re a Warriors fan, they won’t be happy with that,” Ennis said.

“That should have been a penalty in front, that’s eight-all. There’s a couple of key moments that we’ll hear a little bit more about.”

Robinson was otherwise satisfied with his side’s performance against the Roosters, ruing their at-times poor attacking options, but praising their defence.

“The execution of our attack was poor. I’ll take that out of Origin just with different guys coming in and out in the wet. Of course I would have liked to have better combinations and increase that, because I thought we had enough field position,” he said.

“But there are some really good signs there.”