Cronulla skipper Paul Gallen has implored NRL officials to stop the practise of video referees ruling on illegal tackles in a bid to stamp out diving from the game.

Gallen was left bewildered by several incursions by the video referee in Monday night’s match against South Sydney – with Rabbitohs pair Matt King and Josh Starling put on report for high tackles after Sharks players had stayed down.

The Sharks captain said players were well within their rights to do whatever they could to earn a penalty, Gallen adamant the issue should be taken out of players’ hands.

“It’s not the players’ fault, it’s the game’s fault,” Gallen said.

“If a pocket referee that’s usually five metres at most away from the incident and another referee’s ten metres from it and two touch judges on the side of the field can’t see anything wrong with a tackle, it shouldn’t have to go to the video referee – it should be play on.

“Players are getting penalties for staying down and they’re not doing anything wrong.

“You can’t call a player a dog for staying down; they’re playing by the rules.

“Until they fix that, it’s going to keep happening.”

Gallen’s plea sparked a reaction via Twitter from Rabbitohs skipper Michael Crocker.

“Paul Gallen shouldn’t be talking about players staying down and playing for penalties. Supposedly one of the toughest in game,” Crocker tweeted.

Crocker issued a follow-up tweet denying he was criticising Gallen, but rather insisting decisions be left up to referees rather than the players.

Gallen said there was certainly no diving when he was floored by a late hit from Dave Taylor in what he labelled a square-up for the knee to the head which left the Sharks forward on report early in the game.

Gallen took several moments to get back in Cronulla’s defensive line after the hit, questioning why Taylor wasn’t penalised for the tackle.

“I’d like to see if I did that on a little halfback, what the result would have been. I guarantee it would have been a penalty,” Gallen said.

“My shoulder’s suffering from it still. That’s a penalty every day of the week … he got away with it.”