Storm coach Craig Bellamy and captain Cameron Smith have accused rivals of trying to orchestrate a clampdown on their wrestling techniques ahead of the finals after the spectre of the grapple tackle was raised amid the fall-out from Monday night's spiteful clash with St George Illawarra.

While Storm fullback Billy Slater (two matches) and Dragons forward Beau Scott (one) face suspension for their part in a first-half brawl, no further action was taken against St George Illawarra prop Jason Ryles over the kicking incident he was sent off for and which has led to the dumping of referee Gavin Badger.

But the main talking point yesterday was the explosive accusation by Cronulla coach Ricky Stuart - a close friend and former teammate of Bellamy's - that Melbourne's use of the grapple tackle and other wrestling manoeuvres had caused tensions to boil over in the game at Olympic Park.

The NRL's match-review committee looked at five grapple or chicken-wing tackles, including the one that sparked the fight that led to Badger sin-binning three players after Dragons five-eighth Jamie Soward took exception to a hold by Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk, but it deemed none worthy of judiciary action.

Match review chief Greg McCallum and NRL referees boss Robert Finch said the number of such incidents was no higher than in most games and officials remained vigilant in their mission to stamp out illegal wrestling ploys, but Stuart's claim received some support from Sydney Roosters coach Brad Fittler.

"They've got wrist locks, arm twists, the whole lot," Fittler told Channel Nine. "They all know them and they do them very well. I think it's crap."

Stuart re-ignited the debate over Melbourne's wrestling tactics when he told 2KY: "The month or six-week period where the referees are jumping on top of it is over. Now they're [Melbourne] back into it again and it's coming into the most important stage of the season. There's a technique on how they attack the head and they're getting away with it again."

Bellamy refused to take aim at Stuart but after enduring similar accusations in the lead-up to the 2007 finals series when Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett sent footage of the so-called "crusher" tackle to the NRL, it is understood he phoned the Sharks mentor and the pair had a frank discussion about the latest claims.

"It comes from teams around us on the ladder, around this time of year," a bemused Bellamy told the Herald. "It's said at this time of year in the lead-up to the finals to affect us. If anyone's got a problem, they should bring it up with Robert Finch or Greg McCallum. They've said nothing to us."

Smith told Channel Seven: "It starts to happen at the same time every year. We're seven weeks out from the finals and we're going along OK."

Dragons officials told the Herald none of their players had complained after the match about being the victim of a grapple tackle but publicly they did not want to discuss the issue and coach Nathan Brown instructed his players not to comment about the issue, Badger's performance, the dismissal of Ryles or the brawl.

Finch said he believed Badger's mind was still on the fight that had just ended when he sent Ryles off for kicking in the scrum and his biggest regret yesterday was acting so hastily in waving the former Test prop off.

"The send-off was the wrong call," Finch said. "I believe there had to be action taken but I think the action he took was far too severe for the actual incident."

After studying video of the incident yesterday, McCallum said the match review committee would have had to also charge Storm prop Jeff Lima had they taken further action against Ryles, as the pair had each engaged in stomping and kicking in the scrum, but with little force.

Apart from Slater and Scott, Melbourne's Dallas Johnson and St George Illawarra's Jason Nightingale were the only other players to throw punches but both had been retaliating after being hit by the other pair.

Slater was charged for being the third man in after Soward reacted to Cronk's tackle, while Scott started a second fight after the first had stopped.