WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n But the thrilling finish couldn\u2019t mask the frustration surrounding a contest repeatedly bogged down by penalties and set restarts, drawing comparisons to the infamous clash between the same sides eight years ago when 33 penalties were blown and Cameron Smith was sent to the sin bin.<\/p>\n There\u2019s an overwhelming sense of frustration around the league at the moment with set restarts rising in the weeks leading into the finals, with players concerned about the speed of the game and what it means for the product.<\/p>\n \u201cI think everyone in the game is getting quite frustrated with it, I know I am,\u201d Grant said, with 18 infringements in the first half alone leading to several melees.<\/p>\n Grant produced a stunning late flick pass to set up Trent Loiero for Melbourne\u2019s match-winning try.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve talked to other players in the game, and you don\u2019t know what constitutes a quick play-the-ball or what constitutes a slow play-the-ball.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re playing rugby league, we\u2019re not playing touch out there, and sometimes it just feels like we are. No wonder why we get so many people on report or all these penalties. It\u2019s because the game is getting to a pace where players are just doing their best.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, I worry about the welfare of all players across the board. You go talk to anyone, and everyone would be feeling the same. I think we need to collectively look at what that is and what we really want.<\/p>\n \u201cDo we want to play touch football or rugby league? We can stay strong, stay together on that, and keep pushing that forward. There\u2019s certainly a lot of frustration throughout the whole game at the minute.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharks veteran Cameron McInnes was equally flummoxed by some of the rulings on Saturday night.<\/p>\n \u201cYou just don\u2019t know what you\u2019re going to get, do you? I\u2019ve been playing the game a long time, and I couldn\u2019t tell you what they (the ruck infringements) are for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Munster praises brave Storm victory | 13:45<\/p>\n \u201cYou feel like you run the ball and then the same thing happens to you and it doesn\u2019t get called. I know it\u2019s hard for the ref, but sometimes it just feels like it\u2019s for the sake of it. That\u2019s how it feels. It feels like it often goes against us.\u201d<\/p>\n Referee Todd Smith had to call both captains over during the first half which also saw the Sharks reduced to 11 men at one stage.<\/p>\n The Storm were able to take advantage of the extra numbers to open up a 12-0 lead, but Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon had serious doubts over both tries.<\/p>\n The first looked like a clear forward pass from Nick Meaney to Hugo Peel, while the second saw the referee initially rule no try after Sua Fa\u2019alogo grounded the Steeden close to the dead ball line.<\/p>\n Fitzgibbon\u2019s gripe was that his side had a try incorrectly ruled out by the bunker a week ago when Addin Fonua-Blake appeared to have grounded the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t know what a forward pass looks like at this current point in your career, I don\u2019t know either,\u201d he said, with the Sharks to host the Cowboys in an elimination final next week.<\/p>\n \u201cHow many times have you seen a referee call a try and the bunker overturns the try?<\/p>\n Loiero seals Storm thriller! | 00:45<\/p>\n \u201cTwo in two weeks. It\u2019s not going to save where we\u2019re at either. I just thought we played well enough to win the game today. You have that, and that, and that\u2019s two weeks in a row.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not going to change what happens next week either. In fact, if I\u2019m sooking about it, it might put pressure on us next week.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I don\u2019t want to do that, because I don\u2019t want to challenge the integrity of the game, but I\u2019d like to see the integrity of the game remain what it should be.<\/p>\n \u201cA forward pass is a forward pass. If you\u2019re going to back the referee, back the referee. But don\u2019t back him some weeks, and then turn around the week after and not do it, and then do it two weeks in a row. That\u2019s a thing. That\u2019s not up to me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Storm skipper Harry Grant has delivered a blunt warning over the state of the NRL, questioning whether the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":881609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-881608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788662173_587_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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