OPINION: Billy Slater should not be in Sunday's NRL Grand Final - you know it and we know it.
So if the NRL judiciary isn't prepared to do something about that, we will. The Melbourne Storm fullback is hereby suspended from Newshub's live coverage of Sunday's big game.
That's right, tune into our live updates and you WON'T see Slater's name feature at all. Instead, you'll find someone named 'Silly Blighter' (see what we've done there?) filling the Storm number one jersey.
It's ironic, given Slater's predilection for shoulder injuries, that he should risk sitting out the final game of his illustrious career with a blatant shoulder charge on Sosaia Feki, as the Cronulla wing threatened to score in the corner last week.
It's doubly ironic that another iconic player - Sydney Roosters half Cooper Cronk - is also a doubtful starter for the big game with a severe rotator cuff tear.
When it banned the no-arms tackle, the NRL probably thought it was protecting the tackled player. In this case, the competition's governing body should perhaps have been protect Slater from himself.
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Instead, it has chosen to bend the rules for sentimentality's sake. Maybe someone also needs to save the NRL from itself.
Always keeping one eye on the PR value of the occasion, administrators had undoubtedly circled this date as another chance to celebrate Slater's impact (sorry, poor choice of word) on rugby league.
He's already talked of as a so-called 'Immortal' of the game and won the Wally Lewis Medal for the 2018 State of Origin series, despite only playing two of the three games on a losing Queensland side.
From the moment he was cited for last week's obvious shoulder charge, you just knew he would somehow get off and if Melbourne go on to successfully defend their NRL crown, you can probably put money on Slater taking home the Clive Churchill Medal as well.
No-one loves its heroes (or villains) like the NRL.
Of course, on this side of the Tasman, where we're used to getting the raw prawn from our Aussie league mates, it's impossible not to compare this case with that of Kiwis hooker Issac Luke, who was suspended out of the 2014 Grand Final - and the Four Nations opener (against Australia) three weeks later for good measure.
Obviously, he's not regarded with the same affection as Slater.
Rugby league faces a real crisis of conscience - a game built on a culture of gladiator-like physicality, but grappling with the genuine threat of permanent mental and physical damage to its players.
Like its union counterpart, the code has nervously watched, as American NFL players begin to seek legal redress for the delayed effects of concussion over their careers.
But league also can't stop making excuses for its own shortcomings, guided by TV commentary from former players or coaches, who yearn for the good old days when a bit of 'biff' was not only acceptable, it was encouraged.
They're also the geniuses that try to rationalise clear forward passes with totally illogical physics - but that's another issue.
It's said rugby league is filled with stories of redemption, but maybe that forgiveness is just a little too easy to come by sometimes.
That has to stop somewhere, so we've drawn the line.
Take a seat, Billy Slater - enjoy your retirement.
Welcome to the Grand Final, Silly Blighter.
Grant Chapman is the Newshub online sports editor. Join us at 9pm Sunday for live updates of the Melbourne Storm vs Sydney Roosters NRL Grand Final.
