League legend Brad Fittler has called on the NRL to come down harder on reckless acts after Felise Kaufusi and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak were both handed two-match bans.
Fittler is the latest to criticise the NRL after referees boss Jared Maxwell urged match officials to use send-offs and the sin bin to eradicate high shots.
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The Blues Origin coach said that he would have been comfortable with Kaufusi being given his matching orders for his hit on Ryan Matterson and called on the NRL to be tougher on such incidents moving forward.
"We're at a place with knowing more about our bodies and our brains, that careless and reckless things that happen in a game you need to come down harder on," he told 2GB's Wide World of Sports Radio.
"(Kaufusi and Watene-Zelezniak) got two weeks and I just think that wasn't enough. It doesn't send a good enough message to say that if a player is in that position next time that it holds them back.
"Four to six weeks might have been something better. All of a sudden your coach isn't backing you, saying that was stupid and you're going to cost the team.
"We just need to change that directive and these two might be the incidents that send the change to the judiciary and the referees."
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Maxwell said referees should not feel reluctant to give players their marching orders when required.
"I don't want to be seeking a weaker approach in relation to foul play," he said.
"I wouldn't have been disappointed if they had taken the toughest approach. That's definitely an option and there for a referee to dismiss players.
"We're not sending the message out that that can't happen."
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