NSW captain Paul Gallen has thrown his weight behind calls for the NRL to introduce independent doctors at matches to assess player concussions.

Gallen declared on Sunday there was too much inconsistency in decision-making on whether players should leave the field for concussion checks.

His call came after Manly coach Geoff Toovey added heat to the debate over the NRL’s crackdown on concussion handling, accusing the game’s administrators of making club doctors paranoid of being sued.

Gallen had no doubt their needed to be an independent assessor at each match to decided which players should undergo concussion checks.

He said it was often club trainers – not club doctors – making the decisions, suggesting that was even more reason to go with an independent person.

“It’s not the club doctors who are out on the field assessing players whether they need to come off or not, it’s the trainers,” Gallen said on Triple M Radio.

“The trainers train us every day to be hard and to be tough and resilient.

“They want us to stay out there if they can … I think there needs to be an independent person at the field to say ‘this player needs to come off’ or not.”

Gallen pointed to two incidents in his winless Cronulla side’s 24-22 loss to the Gold Coast on Saturday.

On one occasion he collided with teammate Wade Graham, who was taken off immediately, while in another he had a head clash with Titans winger David Mead, who stayed down for several seconds yet played on.

Toovey was livid after Manly halfback Daly Cherry-Evans was taken from the field three minutes from fulltime in the side’s 12-4 loss to St George Illawarra on Saturday night after copping a knock to the head.

Cherry-Evans was visibly angered by the decision – a sentiment echoed by Toovey.

“Doctors are panicking on the sideline because they don’t want to get into trouble,” Toovey said.

“They are reacting to anything that happens and it has to be sorted out one way or the other because people are worried about being sued.”

The latest developments come as the NRL continues to investigate at least two incidents from earlier rounds where players – South Sydney’s Adam Reynolds and Parramatta’s Nathan Peats – were allowed to return to the field despite appearing to cop heavy head knocks.

Meanwhile, the Sydney Roosters (3-1) continued to show their NRL premiership credentials as they piled pressure on Canberra coach Ricky Stuart with a 34-6 demolition of his Raiders.

Mitchell Pearce was the only member of the Roosters backline not to cross for a try but made up for it by setting up four of his side’s four-pointers.

Brisbane (3-1) fought off a Warriors second half comeback to score a 24-16 win thanks to a late Andrew McCullough try.

The Broncos led 16-0 at halftime before the home side stormed back into the contest.

Brisbane are expected to be without captain Justin Hodges for the next month after he suffered a hamstring injury.

Manly (1-3) suffered a heavy injury toll in their loss to the Dragons (2-2) with Jamie Lyon (groin), Feleti Mateo (ankle) and Josh Starling (knee) compounding the misery of their loss.

The Titans scored their first win of the season when James Roberts intercepted a Wade Graham pass to race away to score the match winner in their 24-22 victory.

Newcastle enforcer Beau Scott was brutal in his treatment of Penrith halfback Peter Wallace in his side’s 26-14 win over the Panthers at Hunter Stadium, as the Knights (4-0) became the only unbeaten team after four rounds.

Scott tickled the Panthers playmakers’ ribs on a number of occasions and effectively neutralised him.

Parramatta (2-2) put the rest of the competition on notice in their 29-16 defeat of premiership favourites South Sydney (3-1).

The Eels’ big men were fantastic and proved they are a force to reckoned with.

Canterbury coach Des Hasler has some difficult decisions to make upon Josh Reynolds’ return from a broken arm after his stand-in Moses Mbye kicked the winning field goal in a 25-24 golden point defeat of the Wests Tigers (2-2).

Mbye slotted the clutch one-pointer in the 84th minute while Josh Morris also scored his first try in nearly a year.