Referees seemingly nail the “Crackdown” but coaches left in the dark and halfback hypocrisy: 20 Thoughts from Round 5

I can't remember the last time I was so nervous heading into a regular season round of rugby league.

Not for the results but more-so for the promised referee "crackdown" on high shots.

Early talks were that any high shot would lead to a sin bin. Chaos was expected!

Instead we had a pretty decent round of footy, without a glaring sin bin error or mass hysteria brought on by cheap sin bins.

That said, coaches don't seem to be any more in the know than us regular day fans. More on this very soon.

Below are 20 thoughts from Round Five:

1. I thought the officials nailed any "crackdown" this weekend. Eight sin bins across eight games, six of which were due to high contact. I wasn't shocked that any of those six were sat down for ten minutes, while I can't really name any horror shots that went unpunished.

2. I just assumed that the coaches would be filled in on what was to come this past weekend. Seems not. Ricky Stuart and Des Hasler both claimed not to really know what was being policed. You'd think the NRL would pass on such details to the coaches.

3. How bout the cop outs in both the aforementioned Press Conferences though? Ricky Stuart said he didn't know the rules anymore after Hudson Young was sin-binned for a direct, forceful high shot. The fact that he was only fined showed the NRL nailed it here too, as it was accidental. Des Hasler harping on about something that happened in the first minute seemed a huge cop out though. His team were dreadful and that should have been the main topic.

4. Sticking with Ricky Stuart, I did cringe when he delivered that backhanded compliment to referee Todd Smith. His "I hope I can wrap the bloke" before slamming him for decisions not agreed upon. Has he found the loophole?

5. Nicho Hynes is a lightning rod for criticism right now. Although I don't think that is unfair, there were several below-par halfback efforts this weekend that go under the radar. Cherry-Evans was hugely outplayed despite being on similar money to Hynes. Jack Cogger, Lachlan Ilias and Chad Townsend all had shockers. Even the great Nathan Cleary couldn't get his side home in a close one.

6. The Sharks losing in the final minutes is my least favourite thing in the world. That said, Canberra's try was special! The Green Machine are back in a big way. They have some of the most exciting players in the competition this year and can absolutely do that to you.

7. What about reports that the NRL is asking for rundowns and a list of topics discussed on the big league shows? Personally, I'm a little hurt I haven't received my e-mail, but seriously, sometimes you can't control the narrative.

8. It seems the Dragons did nothing but upset the Storm in defeating them last weekend. The Storm rebounded after a loss like no other team in the comp. Manly were blown off the park by a side hell bent on consigning their Dragons loss to memory.

9. Clint Gutherson was absolutely breathtaking on his return to Commbank Stadium in his new club colours. Arguably best on ground, the King had them dancing in the stands. The second it went to Golden Point though you just new Zac Lomax would have the final say. You couldn't have written it any better.

10. In that game, the referees were bailed out from one of the all time officiating clangers. An almost deliberate forward pass was let go, because reasons, allowing Tyrell Sloan to score what looked like the match winner. The Bunker couldn't rule that he was out quickly enough, thanks to a literal cm. Bailed out in a big way.

11. I dare someone, anyone, to define a "contestable" dropout. We've seen multiple short restarts sail into the crowd. This weekend we saw one penalised when usually they're just tap restarts. I'd argue that anything that lands over the sideline cannot be contested.

12. To say it's time for the Roosters to move on from Chad Townsend is the mother of all understatements. It was time to move on from Townsend three seasons ago.

13. I usually feel for teams who go winless in a month but there will be no tears for the Penrith Panthers. Let's face it, they should have won on Friday evening. Young Casey McLean will have nightmares about the decision to not draw and pass. The game was over but the youngster made an all-time wrong decision. It happens, but not at Penrith.

14. I learned a lesson over the weekend. Do not bet on the Gold Coast Titans. I should have listened to my own pre-season advice. They are the most unpredictable team in the competition. They can be 10/10 or 1/10 at any given time, in any given game. I swear they hit "random" as they run out.

15. Surely I can't be the only person sick of this Daly Cherry-Evans saga. Players leave clubs all the time. Rusted on, club legends. All the rumours and supposed flames behind the scenes are fun to fan but the sooner he signs with the Roosters, the better.

16. Whispers suggesting that Isaiya Katoa wants to come back to Sydney are horrible for the Dolphins. He is the game's next great halfback and is shaping up as the centre of the Phins' universe for the next several years. I hope he stays up north.

17. I was genuinely shocked when Kurt Mann ran out for his 200th appearance on Sunday evening. Mann is a player who never hogged the headlines but has made himself a super important cog in the Bulldogs' machine. There was no way he was going to be denied a try to celebrate.

18. How good was that Coen Hess shot on Nathan Cleary? I was so worried he was going to be penalised for attacking a kicker but the fact he smacked him before Cleary made contract with the boot seemed to save him. All-time shot!

19. Much will be made about that Latrell Mitchell pass, both good at bad. Good because it was a match winning play that very few would even try. Bad because the ball was caught four metres in front of where it was thrown. Momentum meant it was thrown backward but the touch judge was literally in line. That looked to have floated forward. The earlier-mentioned Dragons pass was very obviously thrown forward. Big different but equally as frustrating as fans.

20. Following the Sharks horror loss in Canberra, fan pages were flooded with posts of "we can't be negative, support the boys!" I reached out to other fanbases and it's not just a Sharks thing. How can anyone be positive watching their heavily favoured side lose after being out-enthused? I wish I had that level of positivity.