He’s known as an NRL hard man, but James Graham has gone all soft.

Soft on the referees, anyway.

Although the Canterbury captain will back coach Des Hasler all the way, the British Bulldog has no qualms about the NRL’s match officials now being protected species, saying referees should be celebrated not condemned.

Hasler on Sunday risked a $10,000 fine after calling for referees to be accountable for their actions at post-match press conferences, just as coaches and players are on a weekly basis.

Hasler’s suggestion – made after Canterbury’s round-one loss to Penrith – came in the wake of league officials making it taboo for coaches or players to criticise whistle blowers.

The new directive from Rugby League Central has bewildered fans – and seemingly players too.

“I honestly don’t know if I’m allowed to say anything,” Graham said when asked if he thought referees should face post-match inquisitions.

Graham, though, said he’d much prefer referees being protected than the alternative, saying he’d seen enough confrontations while growing up watching the English Premier League.

“If you look at other competitive team sports and with the amount of technology that’s available, I think the respect for referees in rugby league is high and something that should be celebrated,” he said.

“They’re always called sir and the approach from players is normally (respectful).

“Every now and then in the heat of the battle you get frustrated but, if you look at football back home in the Premier League and other sporting competitions, the actions towards referees can be quite aggressive.

“So I think as a game it’s something we don’t look on in a positive way like we should.

“People tend to look at the negatives for one or two comments in the media by our gaffer and everyone’s calling for him to be fined or whatever.

“So I’d rather look at the positive things.”

Asked if any fine for Hasler would be harsh, Graham said: “Ask the gaf”.

“The guidelines are in there and I was in there in the press conference and I guess he maybe implied something but whether or not he actually criticised is up to other people to decide.

“I’m not going to go against him.”

Graham said the NRL must have its reasons for making referees protected species.

“It is what it is,” he said.

“That’s the NRL’s prerogative to do that and if you speak to the big wigs at the top, they’ll probably tell you the reasons why this is the situation that we’re in.”