The Roosters are more than aware of Canterbury's questionable tackling techniques heading into Friday night's elimination semi-final, especially those from forward Greg Eastwood.

Are the people charged with running the game aware of them? Concerned? Worried about the bigger picture?

Just over six weeks ago, when the two arch rivals met in the round 21 match at Allianz Stadium, Eastwood grabbed hold of Mitchell Pearce's left ankle in a tackle, reefed it underneath him and then twisted, while captain James Graham buckled the Roosters halfback backwards like he was a human pretzel.

Pearce screamed in pain but wasn't hurt. Somehow. While there was clearly no fault on the part of Graham, Eastwood was subsequently suspended for one match after unsuccessfully defending a dangerous contact charge at the judiciary.

That tackle has been quietly talked about at Moore Park this week. It was brought into sharp focus again because of an incident from the same player early in the second half between the Dogs and Dragons at ANZ Stadium last Saturday night.

Eastwood grabbed hold of Benji Marshall, wrapped his leg around the leg of the Dragons playmaker, locked it in place, and then reefed him back over in the tackle, doing serious damage to his ankle.

It was not an "entanglement", as Eastwood has since claimed. It was a leg lock, straight of out of a Brazilian jiu jitsu textbook.

The NRL match review committee on Monday issued Eastwood with a "concerning act notification". In other words, play on. A week earlier, Souths prop George Burgess was suspended for two matches for throwing a water bottle that didn't hit anybody.

The fans notice this wild inconsistency. Many coaches and players do, too. There's been chatter all week about the absurdity of it.

What will it take for those in power to do something about it? A career-ending injury? If Marshall's ankle was so mangled that he never played again, would the NRL get serious about stamping out this rubbish?

For the past decade we've been arguing and debating and writing and talking and promising summits about the bane of wrestling techniques.

There's a clear distinction between wrestling techniques to slow down the play the ball, and wrestling techniques that are designed to wound the opposition player, stopping him like there's a sniper sitting in the stands.

When Roosters coach Trent Robinson complained about the slow ruck in his team's loss to the Storm last Friday night, it was a matter of interpretation.

The Storm have done nothing wrong. It was masterful, or at the very least resourceful, coaching from Craig Bellamy and his staff, as always. It's what coaches do.

Why wouldn't they? The current crop of NRL referees are clearly not capable of knowing when they are being conned.

The Roosters have the most explosive backline in the competition. In attack, they almost fizz they move so quickly. Everything is done at blinding pace. No wonder rival teams will do whatever they can to shut them down.

What's uncertain now, though, is what can the Roosters – and the other remaining sides – expect for the remainder of the finals series?

The NRL has been banging on about quicker ruck speed all season. Fans' surveys have told them that they want a quicker game. Presumably, that changes.

Or does it? The Broncos-Cowboys match was played at a different pace to the others in the first week of the finals.

But let's be clear: this is separate to what we witnessed from Eastwood against the Dragons.

This column has the utmost respect for the Bulldogs and coach Des Hasler, and we realise other players and clubs are equally adept at this dark art. Exhibit B: South Sydney.

Nor do we suggest that Eastwood or any other player has a pre-meditated idea of maiming another. As Eastwood has pointed out, he went to school with Marshall and has represented New Zealand alongside him. He isn't thinking about Benji's ankle, just stopping him.

But this isn't the first time he's done it. The leg lock was also identical to the one Bulldogs playmaker Moses Mbye employed on prop George Rose earlier in the game against the Dragons.

The issue for the NRL isn't just the welfare of its elite.

On Monday, on the inside back page of The Daily Telegraph, there was a full-page advertisement for junior AFL footy, as well as a promotion for AFL9s, which spruiked "non-contact social football".

We're unsure whether the advertisement was part of Uncle Rupert's promise to "do everything we can to make AFL stronger."

It doesn't need News Corp's help. The NRL is playing its own part, banning players for throwing water bottles instead of banning lethal leg locks that will one day ruin a career.

Bennett, Bellamy and bad blood

In friendlier times: Bennett and Bellamy at the 2006 grand final breakfast. Photo: Getty Images

Most New South Welshmen, women and small children and animals might loathe the thought of a Broncos-Storm grand final, but we are intrigued with the idea of coaches Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy coming up against each other.

The relationship between the two is said to be complete poison, and it was only further enhanced this week when the veteran coach and his former protege at the Broncos engaged in a little bit of media tongue-fu over the whole wrestling stuff. Bennett had a pop about the Storm's techniques as far back as 2007.

But the animosity goes deeper than that, however, with the relationship strained in the fallout to Alex McKinnon's neck injury while playing for the Knights against the Storm last year.

Time for a proper chat, guys

Our item last week about fears ARL Commission chairman John Grant was losing faith in chief executive Dave Smith rattled a few cages and rocked the Casbah.

Grant went out of his way to assure clubs on Friday that he and Smith had "robust" debate about all sorts of issues, that is all. He also wanted to snuff out concerns from Sydney clubs he was biased towards the Broncos.

We take it all on board. We're not haters. But there can be no dispute that the panic among Sydney clubs that they will be neglected should Smith depart the scene prematurely is very real.

Maybe it all comes down to a typical case of head office not communicating clearly enough with its most important stakeholders.

That includes the players, too, who have threatened to boycott the Dally M awards over an apparent lack of care from the NRL about player welfare.

The ironic part of that is that player welfare – including five-day turnarounds, and eight-week breaks between seasons – is at the cornerstone of Shane Richardson's highly anticipated "black ops" manifesto concerning the future of the game.

If someone from the NRL had communicated that to the Rugby League Players Association, the unpleasant threats from the likes of Johnathan Thurston on the eve of the finals series would have been avoided.

A Manny splendid thing

'A cross between Muhammad Ali and JFK': Manny Pacquiao is heading Down Under. Photo: Getty Images

And in international sporting superstar news just to hand, legendary Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao will on Friday announce he will visit Australia for a series of public appearances in November.

American late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel, who was part of the boxer's entourage for the fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr, once described the 10-time world champ as "a cross between Muhammad Ali and President John F Kennedy."

Now that's popular.

Pac Man will arrive in Australia on November 16 and spend four days meeting, greeting and speaking about his incredible life, from his rise from poverty to the pinnacle of world sport and his life outside the ring as a congressman in the Philippines parliament.

There are events in Melbourne before he arrives in Sydney for a business leaders lunch at the Hilton Hotel on Friday, November 20. The following day, he will speak after the screening of his movie Manny, which chronicles the boxing champ's life and times.

Jose Ramos, Pacquiao's adviser in the Philippines said: "Manny is excited to visit Australia and both he and his wife Jinkee are looking forward to meeting fans and politicians."

Interested in seeing the great man? Visit www.mannydownunder.com.au or connect on social media though @mannydownunder.

Turnbull a tricolour tragic

Some big news coming out of Canberra this week. Not only was Sia Soliola named the Raiders player of the year but Malcolm Turnbull torpedoed Tony Abbott as Prime Minister.

For the record, the Member for Wentworth is a devout Roosters supporter, as is the man who swore him in - Governor-General Peter Cosgrove.

History will judge Turnbull for what he does from now on, but he'll long be respected by many for his support of last year's Bingham Cup in Sydney.

He donated personally to the tournament - he was one of the top 15 individual sponsors - and lent his considerable presence to a score of functions, including a pledge from the chief executives of the major sporting codes to implement anti-homophobia and inclusion policies.

THE WEEK

THE QUOTE

"It's nice of your wife to let you borrow her shirt." – This column has been telling colleague Michael Chammas for years he has appalling dress sense. Good to hear 49ers guard Alex Boone thinks the same way.

THUMBS UP

Don't worry about Serena Williams missing out on the grand slam. Italian Flavia Pennetta dusted off close friend Roberta Vinci in the US Open women's final, and then announced her retirement at the age of 33. "I'm a tennis player but I'm also a person," she said. "The moon is going up and down, no?" Well, yes.

THUMBS DOWN

There is nothing worse in this world than not appreciating greatness when you see it. Justin "Biebs" Bieber tried to jump in the ring after his good mate Floyd Mayweather Jr beat Andre Berto. Security wasn't having a bar of it. "You wanna be escorted out in handcuffs, young man?" Well, no.

It's a big weekend for … big Slammin' Sammy Burgess, who has been named to come off the bench for England in the Rugby World Cup opener against Fiji at Twickenham – just a tick under a year since winning an NRL title with Souths. Some achievement.

It's an even bigger weekend for … Johnathan Thurston. He this week claimed a third consecutive RLPA player of the year award. A Dally M looms, if the players don't boycott it. A win against the Sharks in Townsville edges his Cowboys closer to a premiership.