It has been going on quite a while and it is totaly infuriating. I wish the referee's would say "I'm reffing this game, not you" & give a penalty against for discent. Would ruin the game for a while until the perps learned but they would eventually.

Edit:
And the same for falling over / diving when they get a nudge off the ball or at PTB area, penalise for play acting and turning the game & players into footballers.

Pretty much agree though I'd leave decisions on diving to to the panel. The refs get enough grief without having to adjudicate on dives that half the crowd are calling out as serious foul play, having been taken in.

Infuriating it is. Agree that a penalty would quickly sort it out. That, or a quick blast of the Macarena from the pa system.

It happens in the NRL too.
And probably started in Football.

Leeds players do this quite a bit, especially at the ruck. If they penalised for this it would stop it.

As a sport RL needs to differentiate itself, and as hard as it sometimes is, respect for the officials is part of that.

Referees have their part to play be being good, but RL is not a game for play acting.

Agree. Players from all teams are at it. While ever there's a glimmer that the referee might actually give something, though, it'll continue. Agree with previous comments that a penalty against would bring it to a halt almost immediately.

it didn't when ganson penalised Rob burrow for it way back when.
then ignored it for the rest of the game...

Consistency during a game from the same ref is certainly an issue, never mind between different referees.

The head contact rule is so inconsistently reffed it drives me crazy.

I now genuinely don't know what constitutes a penalty, never mind yellow/red.