NRL turns tables on nigglers' low acts from the Penrith Panthers' playbook

The Canberra Raiders prop wouldn't have had to bottle up his pound of mongrel and his ounce of white-line fever that makes him the competitive beast he is.

He could've simply taught the Penrith centre the meaning of the word "respect". Much as Tyson Frizell was quite rightly allowed to do to Zac Lomax on the weekend.

For once, the good guy won. Normally it's the other way around. Normally it's the niggling instigator who gets away with it, while the retaliator gets punished.

But thankfully the NRL has reversed that trend and put the onus back on the nigglers of this world.

It happened to Crichton and now it's happened to Lomax as well.

Hopefully it's something the Panthers have taken notice of and adjusted their at times arrogant behaviour accordingly.

Because what Lomax did on the weekend started with them. Against the Green Machine at Penrith Stadium in round five last season. Now the two teams go head-to-head there again on Sunday - a little more than a year on.

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Lomax's unsportsmanlike try celebration - where the St George Illawarra centre jumped on the back of his Newcastle opponent Frizell - sparked some push and shove.

It was an act Frizell took exception to at the time - scruffing the Dragon and slamming him into the ground. An act Knights enforcer David Klemmer took exception to after the game - giving Lomax a few choice words of disencouragement.

These things can come back to bite you. They already have for Lomax in the form of a $1000 fine. And could do again the next time the two teams meet, with Lomax potentially wearing a target on his front for Klemmer and his front-row friends to take target practice at.

But it normally would've bitten Frizell. The referee and bunker could've penalised the Knights second-rower for his reaction and fully franked the niggle in the process. There's countless stories from all sports over the ages of exactly that happening.

Thankfully the NRL have instead laid down a marker for commonsense with Lomax instead the one punished.

It was similar scenes when Crichton committed a similarly childish act in 2021 - dragging Tapine into the Panthers' try celebrations while the Canberra forward waited patiently to come onto the field.

Somehow the New Zealand international managed to restrain himself as Crichton and co carried on like pork chops. Only for their courage to quickly dissipate when Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton stepped in and the Penrith players no longer fancied the lopsided numbers of six Panthers up against two Raiders.

Crichton also copped a fine for his carry on and the resulting melee. He also copped a spray in the media from Raiders boss Don Furner who told his Penrith counterpart he'd later thank him for pointing out the bad behaviour of his young side.

While the Panthers went on to win the premiership, the jury's still out on whether it's changed their behaviour.

But at least the NRL have taken steps to stamp it out. If it persists, the next step will be for the referees and bunker officials to penalise the Crichtons and Lomaxes of this world during the game. And not just in their hip pocket after the fact.

NRL ROUND SEVEN

Sunday: Penrith Panthers v Canberra Raiders at Panthers Stadium, 4pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Jordan Rapana, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Semi Valemei, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Brad Schneider, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Corey Harawira-Naera, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 15. Harry Rushton, 16. Adam Elliott, 17. Corey Horsburgh. Reserves: 18. Hudson Young, 19. Matt Frawley, 20. Jarrod Croker, 21. Emre Guler, 22. Trey Mooney, 23. James Schiller, 24. Peter Hola.

Panthers squad: 1. Dylan Edwards, 2. Charlie Staines, 3. Izack Tago, 4. Stephen Crichton, 5. Taylan May, 6. Jarome Luai, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. Matt Eisenhuth, 9. Apisai Koroisau, 10. James Fisher-Harris, 11. Viliame Kikau, 12. Liam Martin, 13. Isaah Yeo. Interchange: 14. Mitch Kenny, 15. Scott Sorensen, 16. Spencer Leniu, 17. Jaeman Salmon. Reserves: 18. Robert Jennings, 19. Chris Smith, 20. J'maine Hopgood, 21. Lindsay Smith, 22. Soni Luke, 23. Christian Crichton, 24. Sean O'Sullivan.

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