Melbourne hooker Brandon Smith apologised to referee Adam Gee after being sin-binned for dissent in an incident which is likely to draw the attention of the NRL's match review committee.
Smith was binned in the 59th minute when he gave Gee a gobful while Melbourne were attacking Cronulla's line in Thursday's 28-6 defeat.
Gee stopped the play and sent the hooker for a 10-minute spell, with the referee heard on the television broadcast refusing to repeat what was said.
Smith declined to divulge what he said but conceded he was out of line.
"I lost my temper and it's very disappointing on my behalf. I let not only myself, but all my teammates down," Smith said. "That's not good enough.
"I went in and apologised to him (Gee) afterwards. I just lost my cool at the time, and I've got to be better than that.
"I'll try to maintain my distance from him (coach Craig Bellamy) for a while.
"I'm sure he will be disappointed in me. I let the team down and he's all about a team-first mentality.
"He (Gee) was all good, he just said: 'I can't cop that'. I said: 'I'm sorry I took my frustration out on you'. I was probably just annoyed at my own performance."
Players have previously been fined for criticising the performance of referees.
As he was leaving the pitch, Smith also took exception to something a fan said, turning and saying "what'd you say, bra?"
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