'Rubbish on the face' puts Cameron Smith in firing line after ear pull on Canberra Raiders rookie Bailey Simonsson

Footage has surfaced of an exchange between the Melbourne Storm captain and NRL referee Ben Cummins after Smith appeared to pull on the ear of Raiders winger Bailey Simonsson.

Smith was penalised for "rubbish on the face" during Canberra's miraculous comeback victory over the competition leaders this past weekend.

Simonsson was in possession on the ground when Smith appeared to grab his ear and twist it with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half.

Smith was penalised by referee Ben Cummins and repeatedly asked what the infringement was for with a look of disbelief on his face.

"I think the way he carried on with the referee afterwards was worse than twisting his ear," Furner said.

"He only got penalised for god's sake, it was us who had two players sin binned. We didn't carry on about it to the referee, we just got on with it. Imagine how he would have reacted if he got sin binned."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

Raiders rookie Simonsson got back to his feet and shoved the Storm skipper backwards in disgust before being awarded a penalty.

The Green Machine marched downfield and scored through Jordan Rapana off the ensuing set. Smith sought out Cummins as Raiders captain Jarrod Croker lined up a shot at goal.

"I just want some clarification on what that penalty was for there?" Smith asked.

"Rubbish on the face, mate, and it was you," Cummins said.

"Rubbish on the face?" Smith said.

"Yeah," Cummins replied.

"Okay, no worries," Smith said.

But Smith refused to let it die as he questioned Cummins twice more before the referee had clearly had enough.

"Mate, I can't tell you anymore, Cameron," Cummins said.

"Fair dinkum. Rubbish on the face?" Smith replied.

The Storm veteran escaped a sanction for the incident amidst frustration about Melbourne's wrestling tactics in the ruck.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has already called on the NRL to be "brave enough" to clean up the game and stamp out illegal tactics.

South Sydney football manager Shane Richardson fired barbs at Melbourne over their tactics a week prior in what Storm officials dubbed a tactic leading into their top four clash.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy returned serve and said controversy relating to the club's wrestling "always seems to come up at this time of year".

Even so, Smith's act on Simonsson is inexcusable.

It is not the first time Smith has drawn the ire of Raiders fans after he dug a knee into the back of Croker's injured knee during the 2016 preliminary final.

Croker had injured his knee earlier in the contest and Smith's apparent attempt to floor the Raiders skipper was labelled a "disgraceful dog act" by outraged fans on social media.