Bingo!!
For years the fans and the media had been screaming that the refs weren't penalising things they should have, e.g. things like incorrect play the balls. So (finally) the NRL decided that that is exactly what the referees would do. Starting in Round 1, 2018 they would actually start enforcing the rules and players would be penalised for breaking them.
Be careful what you wish for......
The first round of the 2018 season went OK and (most) were happy to see the refs actually penalising players. But by round 3 it had completely turned around and the heat from fans and the media was on about referees "nitpicking" when it came to penalties. Too many were being blown and it was killing the game as a spectacle, apparently.
Then came round 4 and the Friday night game on Channel 9 between Cronulla and Melbourne at Shark Park where Matt Cecchin and his offsider Allan Shortall blew an astonishing 33 penalties for the game, 19 for the Sharks and 14 for the Storm. In front of 13,196 fans and a national FTA live television audience, many saw it as Cecchin protesting that they were having to blow too many penalties in the games. It caused a bit of an uproar, so what did the NRL do? In their typical knee-jerk style, they backed down and by and large things went back to how they were previously. Cecchin also paid the price for his "protest" and was immediately dumped from being the games #1 referee (he had been the lead referee in all 3 Origin games and the Grand Final in 2017) to somewhere way down the pecking order, a situation that continues to this day.
@Batty ... I 100% agree with you that the NRL should have stood their ground and forced the players (and coaches) to learn not to break the rules. Once they started doing that the number of penalties would drop because the players would know they couldn't get away with things like not using the foot in the play the ball or having hands on the ball or creeping up offside out wide. And the game would have been better for it. But instead the piss weak mob at NRL HQ backed down all in the name of making the game a better spectacle for those who watched either at the grounds or on television. You see, if the game is a better spectacle.....it attracts $$$, especially from television.