Gold Coast coach Des Hasler wants the NRL to return to two referees and has stood by his recent criticism of the high tackle crackdown.

Gold Coast coach Des Hasler wants the NRL to reintroduce the two-referee model that was in place in the game for more than a decade.
The veteran mentor has also stood by his recent criticism of the NRLâs high tackle crackdown, with the NRL still deciding whether to breach him for his comments after the Titansâ 36-10 loss to the Dolphins on Saturday.
Hasler has also suggested a new role for the Bunker and allowing on-field officials to make the final call on whether tries should be awarded.
âOn-field, I think the game still deserves two referees. Thatâs a main officiating referee and (an assistant),â Hasler said.
âI think one on the ruck and one marking the 10 metres. Theyâll get a clearer picture and it will flow better.
âThe biggest issue is consistency. I still think there is a simpler way on the tryline (to adjudicate) particularly with the tries, disallowed tries, obstructions and non-obstructions.
âIâd like to see it go back into the hands of the officiating person on the field who has the best view and that is the referees. I think that is a really easy one.â
The two-referee model was scrapped in 2020 after being in operation for 11 years, at the same time six-agains were introduced for ruck infringements.
Hasler appeared to be suggesting an on-field role for referees to decide on tries, similar to what occurs in the NFL with the aid of a monitor. He was asked where that would leave The Bunker.
âNot blow up the Bunker ⌠but maybe Iâd find alternatives for the Bunker. Thatâs another discussion for another day,â he said.
The NRL has made it clear that forceful contact with the head, with no mitigating circumstances, is to be punished by match officials.
Hasler said he was not expecting repercussions or a fine for his outspoken remarks last week.
AAP understands they were still being reviewed by the NRL as of Thursday morning.
âI donât think Iâll have a problem there,â he said.
âEveryone is entitled to their opinion, so I think we can rest easy on that one. Weâve saved $25,000.â
The Titans lost captain Tino Faâasuamaleaui, who was sin-binned in the second minute for a high shot on Felise Kaufusi and subsequently banned for one match.
The Dolphins lost forward Ray Stone to the sin bin and a one-match suspension for a swinging arm to the jaw of Gold Coast forward Beau Fermor, as he was falling into a tackle.
âPeople pay good money to come and see a game of footy,â Hasler said.
âWith the playing at the head, I think it just interferes a bit with the integrity of what the game is about.
âWhere is the intention? Itâs just another spoiling part of the game. Itâs not quite as bad as Magic Round two years ago, but I find itâs disappointing.â
Hasler found support from Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf.
âWe donât believe Ray Stoneâs was a grade two tackle. We didnât challenge that because of all the inconsistency around that at the moment,â Woolf said.
âIn the first four rounds we had 12 (players) charged with that kind of tackle, then we had 12 in one round in round five.
âThatâs an inconsistency straight away, and I donât believe the players got worse.
âIf I also look at those 12 charges, four of those were grade twos. Two of those were sin-binned, others werenât. If you look at some of the grade ones, some were sin-binned, some werenât, and we even had some where players werenât charged but were sin-binned.â
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