“The fines need to go.”

Matterson said he was shocked that he received a ban when Panthers playmaker Jarome Luai escaped sanction after appearing to strike out at an Eels player with his foot.

“At the time I thought it was definitely a penalty,but I didn’t think it would go much further than that.”

Eels forward Ryan Matterson.

“It didn’t make sense to me,” Matterson said.

“At the time I thought it was definitely a penalty,but I didn’t think it would go much further than that.

“It makes you think ‘Where is this game heading?’ ”

Panthers legend questioned Matterson’s decision on Triple M Breakfast with MG,Jess&Pagey program on Wednesday.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Geyer said.

“That’s peril for Parramatta because they’re losing Niukore,they’re losing Papali’i. They need Matterson on deck. They need to be full-strength.

“He’s on about $600,000-a-year. To miss three games of footy for $4000,I don’t get it and hope there is more to it ... They could be 0-3 to start the Eels after three games,who knows,they need every man on deck. The optics of it don’t look really good.”

Matterson said he was stunned that any sanction above an on-field penalty was warranted.

“To be honest,the way Dylan backed in towards me and kept driving his legs,I tried to get his head out,” Matterson said.

“He just kept backpedalling – I’m not going to let him backpedal 100 metres. So I had to stop him. There wasn’t much in it. It was the typical look of a crusher tackle,but there was no pressure involved.

“I was very shocked they said four weeks[if Matterson had gone to the judiciary and be found guilty]. I guess that’s what they are cracking down on.

“To be honest,four weeks for that incident itself is blown way out of[proportion].

“You’ve got to have more consistency. There’s a lot of things that are getting swept under the carpet.”

Asked if it would be difficult watching the Eels begin their 2023 campaign as a spectator,Matterson said:“It’s always hard. I love playing. It’s something I spoke to the club about before I made the decision. Obviously it’s a hard one,but I have personal reasons I need to take into consideration.”

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