Newcastle Knights centre Dane Gagai was sent to the sin-bin for referee abuse as his side was hammered 42-12 by Sydney Roosters on Friday.
Down 26-2 on the scoreboard, Gagai let his frustration get the better of him in the NRL encounter at Newcastle's McDonald Jones Stadium, and was picked up by on-field microphones swearing at referee Peter Gough.
"That's the second time this set," Gough was heard saying. "He's spraying me, swearing at me from well over there.
"I can't tolerate that."
First-half tries to Luke Keary, Joseph Sualii and James Tedesco gave the Roosters a 16-2 lead at the break before a Daniel Tupou double, a second to Sualii, and one score each for Angus Crichton and Egan Butcher gave the Roosters a 40-2 lead.
The Knights managed to score two consolation efforts, as Phoenix Crossland and Edrick Lee both crossed over inside the final 10 minutes to at the very least close the gap.
To make matters worse for the Knights, though, star fullback Kalyn Ponga failed a head injury assessment (HIA) in the first half, after he was hit by a swinging arm from former NZ Warriors prop Matt Lodge.
Roosters now move into the NRL's top eight, boosting their finals hopes by leapfrogging Manly Sea Eagles courtesy of points differential.
Meanwhile, the loss was the Knights' third in succession, with just one victory from its last eight home matches to sit 13th on the NRL ladder.
Newcastle will now wait with bated breath over the availability of Gagai, likely to face further punishment for his verbals towards Gough.
Earlier this month, NZ Kiwis and Melbourne Storm hooker Brandon Smith was sin-binned for swearing at referee Adam Gee and slapped with a three-week ban as punishment.
