![NRL referee Kasey Badger and Tigers skipper John Bateman. Picture Getty Images NRL referee Kasey Badger and Tigers skipper John Bateman. Picture Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/AFKkRPHwQbXhqFfb42nFTx/89a0fbae-4589-49a7-9c5f-9d0896526b72.jpg/r378_0_3348_2299_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
RUGBY league players have an innate ability to identify the weakest link.
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Whether it's the halfback with the reputation for impersonating a turnstile, the winger prone to bottling it under high kicks, or the front-rower who is getting a bit old and slow in the defensive line, they will be ruthlessly targeted and exploited.
It's just the nature of the beast.
And if the most fragile person on the field happens to be the referee, then inevitably players will start taking liberties in their never-ending quest to gain an advantage.
That's my take on the controversy emanating from last week's clash between Canterbury and Wests Tigers, which featured an inexperienced - and female - whistle-blower in Kasey Badger.
Badger and Belinda Sharpe are blazing a trail as the first two women to have refereed in NRL fixtures.
While both have served lengthy apprenticeships, running the touchline in the top grade and officiating in both NSW Cup and the NRLW for several years, they are novices at NRL level, having controlled only a handful of games as head referee.
As such, players were always likely to push the boundaries and see what these pioneering ladies were made of.
In Badger's case, she can only hope the lessons learned during the fiery Bulldogs-Tigers showdown at Homebush last week prove beneficial in the long run.
Badger had three decisions overturned by the bunker, after captain's challenges, which did little to enhance her credibility, or presumably her confidence. Sensing that she was perhaps rattled, and vulnerable, players proceeded to query subsequent rulings, often in animated fashion.
After a series of heated conversations with acting Tigers skipper John Bateman, Badger decided enough was enough when veteran prop David Klemmer berated her, dispatching him to the sin-bin for dissent.
Klemmer was subsequently fined $3000, and NRL officials immediately rallied behind Badger.
"Even when referees do make mistakes they don't make them because of their gender," NRL head of elite competitions Graham Annesley said on Monday.
"They make mistakes because they are human. We somehow have this expectation that NRL referees get everything right. They can't get it all right to everyone's satisfaction.
"There needs to be some degree of acceptance to that ... we need to have a better level of tolerance in our game for what are human errors."
In addition to Annesley's supportive plea, NRL referees boss Jared Maxwell sent a directive to all clubs, warning that there would be a crackdown on dissent.
"In many cases these actions by players are tactical and designed to intimidate or simply delay the recommencement of play," Maxwell wrote. "Additionally, the tone and manner in which some players have approached match officials has at times been argumentative, intimidatory, and disrespectful."
Meanwhile, anonymous trolls lurking in the sewer have been widely taken to task, in particular by commentator and Queensland Origin coach Billy Slater, who declared: "Don't go on social media and be a coward and abuse someone."
Many of the online comments were sexist and misogynist in nature, but I don't think such criticism should be levelled at players.
Klemmer, for instance, has fallen foul of the judiciary in the past for wild confrontations with (male) referees.
The NRL has shown faith in Badger, appointing her in charge of Sunday's clash between the Roosters and Warriors, when the easy option may have been to give her a week off. Plenty of others are backing her in.
Most fans will be hoping that both Badger and Sharpe can enjoy long and successful careers and inspire other women to follow in their footsteps. At the very least, they deserve the identical level of respect afforded to their male counterparts.
But by the same token, the law of the jungle is ingrained in rugby league, and only the strong tend to survive.