Parramatta co-captain Jarryd Hayne has made the sensational claim that his team are being pinged for more penalties than others because they don't have a "superstar forward pack."
The Eels have been penalised a total of 152 times so far this season – the fourth highest count in the NRL.
On the other end, the blue-and-golds have been handed just 123 leg-ups by the referees – the least in the competition this season.
After spending Monday morning reviewing their controversial loss to the Bulldogs, Hayne voiced his frustration at continually being on the wrong end of the penalty count.
"It's upsetting because when you look at our game and compare it to other games, you're scratching your head and just going, 'Why are we penalised?'" he said.
"You look at other teams that are doing it and they're getting away with it. Because we don't have the big name players, the superstar forward pack, we can't dominate the tackle. We can't wrestle.
"Going through the video, and I remember straight after the game speaking to [coach Brad Arthur] about those first four penalties. And he was adamant with me, and reviewing them as well, we were just left shaking our heads."
The NSW fullback included Manly, whom the Eels will try to save their season against on Friday night, as one team who continually gets the rub of the green.
According to Champion Data, the Sea Eagles have been awarded 133 total penalties so far in 2014, the 11th most in the NRL.
Hayne also believed the whistle-blowers were entering Eels games with a pre-conceived idea that the wooden spoon holders were going to struggle against their opponents.
"Yeah, I think that could be the case, [but] the biggest thing is because we don't have the big name players," he said.
"You look at the other clubs, Manly, the Storm, the Bulldogs, South Sydney... why are they going well? Because they're wrestling in tackles. They're getting away with things that we wouldn't get away with.
"I don't know what it is, but it seems like there's something there because we don't have those big name players that we don't get treated like they would."
The first-year skipper did admit that while he has vented his frustrations with the referees on numerous occasions this year, he needed to work on his on-field communication.
"It's tough because when you see things like that and you know it's that blatant or obvious and it either wasn't a penalty or we should've got a penalty, you get frustrated. You get irritated," he said.
"Your first reaction is obviously to be emotionally upset and that's something I need to be better at. When you're in the heat of the battle, it's tough. When things are going against you, it's obviously hard to communicate."
