During the preliminary final between Melbourne and Cronulla, you could be forgiven for thinking, at times, that referee Ashley Klein was actually the star of the show.
After all, the veteran official enjoyed more than his fair share of screen time as he clamped down hard on both teams during the tussle at AAMI Park, which eventually ended in the Storm advancing through to yet another grand final.
The stop-start nature of the contest left Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon questioning the direction the NRL was heading in as he vented his frustration post-match.
MORE: Sharks defiant despite yet more prelim finals heartbreak against the Storm
'What are we doing!?': Ref comes under fire for performance in prelim
"That’s a prelim - do you want to have a grand final to have 18 penalties?" Fitzgibbon bemoaned.
"I think in the first half, there were 22 minutes of the ball in play, like what are we doing!?
"What do the fans want? They want to see the ball in play and see teams go at each other."
Melbourne finished with just under 30 minutes of time spent in possession for the match, while the Sharks registered 25 minutes and 48 seconds, according to official NRL statistics.
In a scrappy affair, each side was penalised nine times and there were five set restarts also dished out by Klein as his whistle was given a thorough workout.
"I’m not sooking about the ref because the best side won tonight," Fitzgibbon stressed.
"The better side won, so I can’t complain about the officials. Some of the calls were warranted on us, but it is a lot for this time of the year."
Cronulla often struggled to generate rhythm in their attack, yet remained in the contest right until the closing stages due to their brilliant efforts in defence.
However, in a game that also featured 13 errors, the hardline stance taken by the ref left Fitzgibbon with a sour taste in his mouth despite his side's spirited display.
"It’s frustrating, but what do you do?" Fitzgibbon said.
"I can’t recall any bad calls or whatever. I’ve got to look at it, but it’s just too many penalties. It’s not what we need in our game.
"Why does it happen? Is that on the teams? Is it on us and them, or is it the ref?
"I haven’t had time to review it," the coach added. "But it just sucks sitting here talking about it."