Canterbury Bulldogs star Sam Hughes disciplined for contact with female referee

Bulldogs star Sam Hughes has found himself in trouble after appearing to make contact with NRL referee Kasey Badger on Saturday.

The incident happened in the first half during the Bulldogs' match with the Wests Tigers at Accor Stadium.

Hughes appearing to shove Badger who found herself in his path after coming out of a scrum on the defensive line.

The NRL match review looked at the incident closely on Sunday and decided not to suspend him.

Hughes escaped the Grade 1 charge and was instead hit with a $3000 fine. He will face a two match ban if he contests the decision and loses. 

It comes after another incident involving contact between a referee and player earlier in the season.  

Jahrome Hughes copped a ban for shoving referee Chris Butler while trying to stop a try in March while playing the Warriors.

Replays show Hughes nudging Butler out of the way, with the referee hitting the ground before the Storm halfback attempts a try-saving tackle.

Tensions threatened to erupt throughout the Bulldogs' 22-14 win and eventually a scuffle broke out when David Klemmer went to the sin bin for dissent in the final 10 minutes.

Canterbury hooker Reed Mahoney rushed in to confront Seyfarth as he grabbed at Canterbury teammate Viliame Kikau and as the third man into the fray, he appeared to wear a headbutt from the Tigers prop.

'I was just doing what anyone else would do, just running in there and protecting their mate,' Mahoney said.

Unlike after the fracas in the win over Newcastle, Mahoney was spared the sin bin, though the same could not be said for Seyfarth.

Both Knights prop Hetherington and Mahoney were sat down in round six, the former eventually copping a one-gam ban for escalating things in the tunnel at the same venue.

Asked whether he deserved a reputation as a pest, the diminutive Mahoney shot a barb at Hetherington and Seyfarth.

'People get big man syndrome, they don't like little people talking up to them. Maybe that's their fault, not mine,' he said.

'I'm just playing the footy I've been playing for the last five years. I don't really worry about that sort of stuff.

'I go into those sorts of scuffles because I'm there to protect my mate. That's what we're about here, protecting each other to the death. I'm just there to do that, I'm not there to start anything, I'm there to protect and stand up for my boys. That's how I see it.'

Hetherington is due to return from his ban for Sunday's clash against the Warriors.

The Knights prop has not yet addressed the Homebush dust-up, during which he appeared ready to throw a punch at Mahoney. The Bulldogs hooker was tight-lipped on Saturday.

'I don't really want to comment on it, I'm the sort of player I leave everything on the field. He obviously got pretty angry and I'll just leave it at that,' he said.

'Footy's footy, you play on emotion and we all get like that sometimes.'