Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy has questioned whether Nelson Asofa-Solomona has become the NRL's "punching bag" after he was again placed on report in the 22-14 loss to Parramatta.
Asofa-Solomona could receive his sixth charge from the match review committee this season but has so far copped fines rather than suspensions for each of his indiscretions.
His continued avoidance of bans sparked debate this week and boos rang out across CommBank Stadium on Thursday whenever he became involved in play against the Eels.
It took just under 25 minutes for the prop to find himself on report again after making apparent late contact on Mitch Moses after the Eels halfback kicked the ball.
The hit left Moses in need of attention from a trainer and was labelled "unnecessary" by referee Ashley Klein.
But Bellamy was less critical.
"It was probably a touch late but it certainly wasn't high," he said.
"(Asofa-Solomona's) arms were around his waist. I'm not quite sure whether the report was because of his reputation."
Asofa-Solomona has already paid $11,800 in fines this year and, with one more charge, he'll have coughed up enough for the NRL to buy a new Mitsubishi Mirage - provided CEO Andrew Abdo can drive a manual.
While his latest hit was less serious than previous offences, Asofa-Solomona's record could work against him.
After he was cited for grade one dangerous contact against the Sydney Roosters last week, NRL head of football Graham Annesley said the match review committee had the power to come down harder on repeat offenders.
"The match review committee has the right under the rules to say you need a stronger personal deterrent," he said.
"So, therefore, your grade one charge will be elevated to a grade two charge."
Bellamy criticised the timing of the announcement, which came at the same time as media reports regarding Asofa-Solomona's record.
"If they thought that (penalties needed to be increased), why didn't they do it halfway through the season?" Bellamy asked.
"Why react now, because of one story that's been going for three or four days about the one bloke?
"There are a lot of other incidents that are as bad as Nelson's but we decided to pick on Nelson this week. He was the punching bag.
"If they want to change the rules just because of that, well, that's their decision. It's not my decision."
Storm captain Jesse Bromwich said the week of criticism had not deterred Asofa-Solomona on game day.
"I don't think he felt much of what the week was," he said.
"When he's running the ball really strongly, it makes our job easy.
"He's one of those special players. He's huge, got speed, got good footwork. When he runs the ball hard, he's pretty hard to handle."
Australian Associated Press
