It's what the NRL judiciary should've said as it handed down it's absurd verdict in Tariq Sims' hearing on Tuesday night.

In what's clearly an emotive issue, there's no shortage of arguments in that vein - shouldn't miss an Origin game for that, Josh McGuire's a grub and he's still playing et cetera.

There's merit in them, but even a cold hard look at the facts reveals how badly, and on how many levels the NRL got this wrong.

Firstly it's hard not to be gutted for Sims. His rugby league journey has been a tough one, two career-threatening broken legs, various other false starts before an incredible resurgence last season.

Yes he was part of the Blues winning series last year, a huge part if you ask anyone who was in Blues camp.

Take nothing away from it, but his debut came in game three with the series already wrapped up. The chance to play in a live decider would haven been a career highlight - one he thoroughly deserved.

That's been taken away after he became a sacrificial lamb in the NRL - and it's mysterious competition committee's - latest piece of policy on the run, in this instance protecting halves from late shots. In that context, Sims shot was late... by a week.

On the park, neither the on-field or bunker officials deemed his hit on Michael Morgan worthy of a penalty, even after multiple looks at it in slow motion.

In reality Sims rarely gets it wrong. As he said following his prolonged torture of Cooper Cronk in last year's Anzac Day match "it's my job to apply pressure to halves in a legal fashion."

No stranger to suspension earlier in his career, Sims has clearly tempered his tackling style over the years to ensure he can pressure halves in a legal fashion.

It's a role he plays with a sledgehammer more than a feather duster, but as he stressed he's done so legally. You also don't have to look back all that far to see the inconsistency inherent in the system.

A similar tackle from Sims on Bulldogs half Jack Cogger three weeks left his former Knights teammate concussed, and coach Dean Pay without one of his key men for the remainder of the match.

Kickoff was at the post-match presser where Pay acknowledged the disruption in losing a half but, unlike Paul Green last Friday night, didn't have an issue with tackle.

"I haven't had a good look at it but, looking at it live, I just thought it was a hard tackle," Pay said. He was right then but, according the panel that determined Sims fate on Tuesday night, it's not now.

Green of course didn't take the same approach as Pay when asked the same questions. In fairness, Green was asked about the tackle that left Morgan dusty.

We in the media often criticise players and coaches penchant for obfuscation when asked about clear talking points out of matches or otherwise. It's a bit stiff to ask coaches for honesty and frankness and then be critical when they provide it.

Still, coaches as experienced as Green are well aware of their role as media professionals and comments they make should be analysed as such.

It's very, very rare that coaches make any sort of comment - particularly in post-match pressers - that isn't calculated. It's hard to see Green's last Friday as anything but.

Having won a premiership and taken the Cowboys to another grand final, Green can obviously coach. However, in the tough run his side's had over the past two seasons he's fast developing a reputation in the game for surliness - some might suggest sookiness.

Paul McGregor not so subtly hinted at that in his response in the same chair minutes later. He also pointed out Green's publicly expressed "disappointment" regarding Brad Fittler's criticism of McGuire following Origin II.

The hypocrisy in leaping to the defence of his own player, whom he really should be clipping over the ear and telling to pull his seemingly empty head in, to then single out a rival was obvious.

To comment at the length as he did only to then add "I'll need to have a better look at it" didn't help either. Little wonder Mary suggested he should "zip his mouth."

Green's also a member of the NRL competition committee. It would take plenty of convincing for any of the NRL brass to suggest that didn't give his comments any more weight.

It's a fair to assume it held more weight than McGregor might have had had he weighed in on the hit from Maika Sivo that caved in Corey Norman's cheekbone in round eight.

Look at that shot, from all angles, and compare it to Sims' and tell me which looks more like "grade two dangerous contact."

Like Pay three weeks ago, McGregor kept his mouth zipped despite Norman needing surgery and missing a month when the battling Dragons could ill-afford it, just like they can ill-afford to be without Sims for three weeks.

The sad fact is Sims was on a hiding to nothing on Tuesday night. He was never going to successfully fight the charge just weeks after the competition committee's fresh edict. Of course it came too late to see Sivo punished for shattering Corey Norman's cheekbone.

True, it's not always as simple as that. Say the NRL knows they got it wrong on Sivo eight weeks ago - do they just throw their hands up and agree to get it wrong for the rest of the season?

Of course not, but the inconsistencies of the match review process are just about the single most frustrating for fans, coaches and clubs alike.

In a week where it's been revealed examinations of the brains of two former rugby league players have shown signs of CTE, a focus on concussion and the game's duty to prevent it has never been in sharper focus.

The game has a duty, and a legal responsibility, to make the game safer but, as Dragons skipper Cam McInnes said this week "we don't play a safe game."

For everyone to be on board with this approach at making the game safer, consistency is essential. Sad fact is it'll come too late for Tariq.

With where the season is poised, maybe the Dragons to.