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The Warriors and Manly went to golden point in Auckland yesterday after Shaun Johnson attempted a two-point field goal, missing, but Sea Eagles prop Josh Aloiai ran through his right leg in his follow-through.

Johnson stayed down as the full-time siren sounded and the bunker ruled a penalty, with Johnson potting the game-tying goal.

It was similar, albeit less violent, to an incident that broke the leg of Souths half Lachlan Ilias at the end of a NSW Cup game last week and the match review committee hit Aloiai with a one- to two-match ban.

Former Jillaroo Karina Brown and ex-Kangaroo Billy Moore said on ABC Sport’s live radio coverage that the referees got it right.

“It’s the same with the head being sacrosanct; you just can’t hit the kicker when they’re in the air,” Moore said.

“You want the players thinking ‘I can have a serious crack at this’ and not worry about getting a serious injury.”

On Channel Nine’s Sunday Footy Show, NRL Immortal Andrew Johns disagreed.

A vocal advocate for the protection of playmakers, Johns nonetheless labelled the contact as an accident and did not believe it warranted a penalty.

“I am all for protecting kickers and playmakers, I probably go over the top on it, but it wasn’t a penalty,” the former Newcastle and Kangaroos halfback said.

“He’s competing. And when you compete hard, occasionally accidents happen. That was just an accident.”

Brad Fittler said the league “need to get this right” because the Ilias incident showed how badly it can go.

“It’s alright to get penalised for [accidents],” he said in response to Johns.

“You don’t just get penalised for the [malicious] things in the game. If you get it wrong you can still get penalised and not be hated on. He got it wrong, he hit his leg. And you just can’t do it, it’s too dangerous.”