Rules on the biff are here to stay THE NRL has cast doubts on the decision to sin bin Greg Bird and Brent Tate in the second State of Origin game, but vowed to maintain its hardline stance on fighting in the face of unrelenting criticism from players and officials on both sides of the border. Referees coach Daniel Anderson yesterday backed the sin-binning of Trent Merrin and Justin Hodges in Origin II, but admitted sanctioning Bird and Tate for their part in a wild second half melee at Suncorp Stadium was open to debate. It wasn't the only debatable decision as the Origin series was again blighted by controversy. NSW coach Laurie Daley yesterday questioned why Billy Slater was exonerated of elbowing Mitchell Pearce only minutes before the brawl while he and his halfback claimed the decision to clear Slater signalled another shift in the rules. Players and officials from both sides called on the NRL to review its decision to automatically sin-bin players for fighting, a move that resulted in both sides playing 10 minutes of Wednesday night's game with 11 men. Blues skipper Paul Gallen maintained the rage yesterday. "The way these rules are going at the moment everyone's just going over the top," he said. Anderson, however, said the NRL had no plans to relent. Fighting and punching have always been outside the rules. Obviously the sin-binning of Trent Merrin and Justin Hodges was warranted. Greg Bird and Brent Tate could be debated. Almost as galling for NSW players and officials was the elbow Slater landed on Pearce late in the match. The Maroons fullback was placed on report but was later cleared because the contact was deemed accidental. Daley questioned how that could happen amid claims that Slater had taunted Pearce by shouting "that's one-all," indicating it was a square-up for an incident in Origin I. "I was quite surprised what Billy's reaction was after it, saying it was 'one-all'," Daley said. Obviously the match review panel thought it was accidental. If it was accidental I don't know why you'd be jumping and going 'one-all'. Pearce took it a step further: "If that's the ruling then hopefully in game three if we elbow someone back it's play on." The match review committee looked at the latest clash between the pair yesterday but did not seek any audio as part of that review. Nor did Slater's alleged sledging of Pearce appear in the referees' report.