Corey Parker left 'dumbfounded' as Haumole Olakau'atu escapes lightly for Origin III melee
Maroons great Corey Parker has slammed the NRL's punishment of players involved in the sideline melee during the Origin decider as two NSW stars receive a two match ban.
Haumole Olakau'atu and South Sydney star Cameron Murray were the only two players to receive bans for the incident, with seven other stars slapped with fines.
The pair were suspended for their involvement in the brawl considering both were not in action on the field at the time of the incident.
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Murray was benched when the melee spilled over the sideline and rushed over to protect Penrith's Jarome Luai.
Parker, who featured in the Maroons outfit on 19 occasions, called for the match review committee to come down harder on Olakau'tua, who was banished to the sheds for the remainder of the match due to his role in the extended squad.
"The NRL have always staunchly stood up for the standards that need to be set," Parker said on SENQ.
"Not just over what happens on a week-to-week basis on TV, but also on what filters down to the grassroots....
"Cameron Murray has been suspended for two weeks. I can cop that because at that point in time, he was on the bench. Olakau'atu is dressed in his Sunday civvies in a suit and is then involved in the melee. It's 100 percent unacceptable.
"A player not even in the game is getting a two week suspension. It's completely unacceptable. It's ludicrous. He should get six weeks at least."
"We cannot have somebody not involved in the game at all being involved in a melee like that. Did he throw a punch? No, but he had Valentine Holmes around his neck.
"If this was Goodna v Brothers down the road and someone was dressed in plain clothes and involved in a melee, they would get a life ban.
"Yet we are happy for a two-game ban to be thrown on Olakau'atu because he's a player? He didn't even play in the game. He shouldn't have been anywhere near it."
