Ivan Cleary has questioned whether players are simply set to let go of attacking players if they are at risk of a hip drop tackle following the decision to sin bin Soni Luke on Saturday evening in Bathurst.
The sin bin, which came late in the narrow loss to the Tigers, saw Luke commit a hip drop tackle that sparked more controversy over the offence which continues to be the most talked about topic in the NRL.
Luke would return with minutes to go in the game, but couldn't fire the Panthers over the line, as the Tigers picked up their first win of the season over the back-to-back defending premiers.
Cleary said that, after watching the footage, the only way Luke could have avoided the end result was to let go of the attacker, comparing it Ezra Mam's tackle last week which he was suspended for.
"I've seen a few like that now, and the only way you can avoid it is to let go," Cleary said on the hip drop.
"How do you tell a footballer to let go? That's my question.
"It was like Ezra Mam's last week where he got suspended. The only way he could avoid that as far as I could see is he lets go."
Penrith captain Isaah Yeo stopped short of suggesting that much, but said getting out of position in a hip drop style scenario can happen very quickly, while also suggesting too much was being penalised.
"I don't know. You just have to have an awareness I guess, but it's a split second thing. You can feel like you're in a good position, and then all of a sudden you're in a bad one and it's just like that. It's a hard one," Yeo said.
"I feel like you know the bad ones, and then the 50-50 ones. The ones that really hurt ones you can tell, they are a lot different to the little ones going on at the moment."
It's the question that continues to be asked at every post game press conference, with multiple players penalised, sin binned and suspended for hip drop tackles on a weekly basis as the NRL continues its war path to remove the tackle from the game.
Cleary though said that no one has any answers.
"The game makes a decision. I don't know. I hear the same questions each week and no one has got any answers," Cleary added.
"I agree with Yeo. The hip drop is a bit like the crusher tackle. When they were first introduced, they look completely different to what they look now. Somehow, we blend them all in together as the same.
"I don't know how you tell a player to let go deliberately. It's just not in any players make-up, and it's not an instinctive thing to do. I feel for the referees and whoever is making these calls, because everyone has bee told so they are doing it."
Any charge for Luke from the match review committee after the tackle will be handed down on Sunday morning.
