'This is a gee-up': Referee torched as play carries on despite Manly forward's scary head knock

Following a non-stop narrative regarding trainer-gate during week two of the NRL finals, fans were left stunned when a clear head knock didn't lead to a stoppage in the Rabbitohs-Sea Eagles preliminary final.

While attempting to make a tackle on Rabbitohs counterpart Mark Nicholls, Keppie's head collided with the South Sydney prop's hip and he was clearly dazed.

"Keppie's copped a bad one there," said commentator Mat Thompson on Nine, before rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns said the Manly prop was "gone".

The incident comes less than a week after Penrith received a stoppage from referee Ashley Klein for a Mitch Kenny ankle injury.

Tonight's play was eventually stopped when Rabbitohs winger Jaxson Paulo was held up over the line.

Manly great Paul Vautin was fuming, citing the Kenny incident from the previous round.

"This is a gee-up, Joey. Things have changed in a week, haven't they?" Vautin said.

"Last week you had blokes going down with a bruised fingernail. The bloke's knocked out, he doesn't know where he is and the referee let play go on," Vautin said.

Penrith's trainer Peter Green was fined and suspended for the remainder of the season after it was determined that he had breached protocols during that moment.

"He's wandering around like it's four in the morning," Johns added.

"Keppie unsurprisingly failed his head injury assessment, leaving the Sea Eagles with 16 men for the remaining 70 minutes of the game."