​Consistency, where are you?

In the aftermath of last Saturday night's game between Gold Coast Titans and Wests Tigers, fans should have been celebrating the match-winning feats displayed by Pat Richards.

Instead, they were left to question how Tigers five-eighth Mitchell Moses was allowed to remain on the field after making a reckless high tackle on Titans fullback William Zillman.

Watching the game live, there was little doubt in the minds of many fans that the Tigers would be reduced to twelve men. Replays only solidified these thoughts, yet referees Gavin Badger and Adam Gee allowed Moses to play out the game.

In 2014 a similar tackle made by Darcy Lussick on Jared Waerea-Hargeaves resulted in the Eels forward remaining on the field, yet incurring a subsequent four-match suspension.

While there is little doubt in my mind that Moses should have been marched, the fact that he only received a Grade 2 Careless Tackle charge is bewildering. Granted Lussick incurred carry over points from his role in the infamous "Battle of Brookvale", but to think that Moses will be free to take his place on Monday night against the Dragons is nothing short of baffling.

The last time a player was sent off for a high tackle was 2012, when Penrith five-eighth Travis Burns made direct contact with the head of Rooster Martin Kennedy, the following nine-match suspension ultimately cost Burns his career in Australia (he has since played for Hull KR and St. Helens in Super League). While the contact made by Burns was significantly higher than that of Lussick or Moses, the NRL rules state:

A player is guilty of misconduct if he: when effecting or attempting to effect a tackle makes contact with the head or neck of an opponent intentionally, recklessly or carelessly.

By the NRL's own guidelines, Moses should have been sent off.

Other notable instances of players being dismissed for contact to the head include NRL legend Petero Civoniceva back in 2010 for a swinging arm that collected the jaw of David Stagg. From this the 309 game veteran incurred a two-match ban.

It would seem that the NRL has regressed in terms of its tolerance for high tackles. A send-off is now a rarity in the game, with zero cases in 2014 and only two the previous year.

Given the NRL's hard-line stance against fighting, it's hard to understand how the governing body of the game is willing to allow tackles such as Moses' to go unpunished both on and off the field, yet is willing to reduce teams to twelve men when players don't even throw a punch, as was the case with Sosaia Feki in Sunday's Sharks v Raiders clash.

For all the criticisms leveled at the NRL for their response in the wake of South Sydney's Arizona affair, and the likely backlash they'll receive for their stance on the drug-embroiled Titans, they could at least find consistency in their enforcement of the rules on the field.