'Makes soft people very tough': Raiders coach Ricky Stuart blasts Penrith's 'silly' on-field behaviour

Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has blasted the Penrith Panthers players involved in last week's on-field scuffle with his side for trying to act tough as he urged the NRL to crack down on jersey-tugging incidents.

The behaviour of Penrith's stars was put under the spotlight this week following Stephen Crichton's Crichton was subsequently charged with contrary conduct charge for his role in a minor scuffle during last week's win over Canberra, which occurred during a Penrith try celebration.

Crichton landed himself in trouble for pulling Canberra's Joseph Tapine into his celebration before tensions boiled over. The Penrith centre was slapped with a $1350 fine.

But the incident also landed the Raiders in hot water, with the NRL issuing Canberra a $10,000 fine due to a club trainer being involved in the melee.

Stuart today addressed the incident, in which he criticised the Penrith players involved for acting bigger than they are due to the NRL's strong stance on no punches being allowed.

"(Crichton's behaviour) was unnecessary and silly," Stuart said.

"This jumper-pulling and grabbing blokes by the back of the jumper and trying to pull them out of melees is a blight on the game.

"It's ugly and makes soft people very tough because you know you're not going to get a punch in the head.

"There are no consequences. You've got guys who are not that courageous acting very tough going into a melee now, knowing the fact he's not going to get a punch to the mouth, which is why so many people fly into it."

With Penrith coming under the firing line from a number of voices out of Canberra, players opted to go with just a simple handshake last night during the Panthers' win over the Broncos.

Stuart said he found last week's incident amusing when his star playmaker, Jack Wighton, came in to defuse the situation.

"I laughed watching it back ... When our physio got pushed out of the way, Jack Wighton came in to sort it out and settle it all down and a lot of egos that were in that melee were deflated very quickly," he added.

"You don't find tough kids walking into these melees and pulling and pushing jumpers. If you're a good pusher nowadays you're tough, apparently."

But most importantly for the Canberra coach, Stuart said he hopes the NRL eventually gets a hold on the jersey-tugging melees.

"I just wish the league could do something about it and eradicate it," he said.

"It was only four or five years ago I was saying it was ugly in Aussie rules and now we've got it."