“Players are very wily and will try to gain any edge,” McGirr said on Wednesday. “Is it gamesmanship? Possibly. But the judiciary and match officials need to be turned on to that and not fall for the trap. It’s a fine line.” McGirr felt the bigger issue was the practice of players not contesting charges of which they believed they were innocent, for fear of copping a greater sanction at Rugby League Central. He said that pleading guilty to minor matters “can come back and haunt you” if subsequent offences resulted in time on the sidelines. “At the time, you think, ‘It’s only a fine, we’ll pay for you, who cares?’” McGirr explained. “But it goes on your record and then when you need your good record, you think about how sad that could be going into the finals. “That would be Kikau’s second strike. Not that he’s planning on offending, but it could prove the difference between playing in a grand final or not. Ironically, you get done on a double points weekend and you think ‘Why did I plead to that when I wasn’t even guilty?’