Penrith Panthers winger Taylan May will serve his two-game suspension for an off-field incident at the start of the 2023 season, and Rugby League Players Association President Clint Newtown has questioned how the rule can be applied consistently in future.
May was charged for an incident in Queensland at the end of 2021 season, and while the NRL's no-fault stand-down policy wasn't applied against the winger, he was slapped with a two-game ban after his court appearance.
The ban would ordinarily have been applied to the start of the 2022 NRL finals series, however, the NRL elected to hold the ban until the start of the 2023 season.
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'Landys described it as a decision for the fans at the time.
"We will consider the fans," V'Landys told 9News in September.
"A lot of ex-players look at it through the players lense. We look at it through everyone's lense and the most important person at the moment is the fan.
"Why penalise the Penrith fans for an indiscretion that the player did?
"The person that should be paying the penalty is the player, and they will, because the player has two matches and a substantial part of their salary."
But RLPA president Newtown, speaking to The Daily Teleghraph, suggested that the rule would now need to be applied equally, and asked whether players could now decide when to serve their suspensions.
“Clearly there were varied views on the outcome of Taylan May's sanction,” Newton told the publication.
“For Taylan and Penrith it was a good result.
“But it does raise the question of how that discretion can be applied consistently to other breaches.
“Can players now nominate the timing of when they serve their suspension?
“If so, that is great, but let's embed that in the system if that is the case.”
May went on to be suspended for a high tackle on Will Penisini during the qualifying final against the Eels, and would ultimately play no further part in the NRL finals with a hamstring injury.
It's understood the integrity unit and their dealing with players is currently under the microscope as the RLPA and NRL negotiate the new collective bargaining agreement, which is due to be signed off in the coming days.