Hugh McGahan: Judiciary has to be consistent

Consistency is what any person wants from an employer so, when an issue is dealt with, it is good to know what retribution to expect if breaches are made. The NRL displayed this when the Warriors breached salary cap criteria earlier this year. They were fined and deducted points - as were the Bulldogs in 2002 - and no one can argue with that.

Unfortunately, I cannot see the same level of consistency on the issue of citings by the judiciary over tackling. Last weekend Manly's Steven Menzies hit (shoulder charged) Patrick Ah Van in the head, not intentionally I must add. But he did hit the player's head. He should have been cited to appear and warned of his technique.

In the Paramatta game, where Craig Gower was hit late by Marcus Perenara in what appeared to be an innocuous challenge, he was coughing up blood. Perenara should have been cited to appear and had a warning issued to him.

Players need to know where they stand on certain issues and not have grey areas, as in these two cases, when it comes down to a timing issue. The NRL has the ability to cite to penalise and to cite to warn.

I feel there are players who may feel aggrieved by these non-citings and Adrian Morley is one of them. He need only venture around the shoulder area of an opponent and is targeted by refs with penalties and by the judiciary with suspension. His previous record is irrelevant.

The next time Steve Menzies does the same tackle on another player, will he be left alone because he has a clean record? Menzies may be riding a fine line between just hitting the head of a player and severely injuring a player because his timing is a split second late.

Message to David Gallop: Warn Menzies now and make him think about his style of tackling.

Prior to representative games, New Zealand has been on the wrong side of the ledger when it comes to citings and suspensions. Steven Kearney and Ali Lauiti'iti are players who'd feel disenchanted with the system due to their previous records.

Then why do I get this feeling that the Australians look at the likes of Steven Menzies, who is still a candidate for representative football, and decide not to cite him for indiscretions? Conspiracy theory, you may ask? I'd never given it a second thought but the longer I've lived back in New Zealand, the more I am now starting to question the legitimacy of their actions.