The Kiwis are fuming a dangerous grapple tackle on wing Sam Perrett went unpunished in last night's World Cup rugby league match.

Wing Sam Perrett was left lying motionless after the second tackle of the match at Skilled Park, thanks to giant Papua New Guinea prop Makali Aizue who could find himself in hot water when the match review committee meets on Monday morning.

Replays clearly showed Aizue, the Kumuls' cult hero who plays for English club Hull KR, wrapping his arm around Perrett's neck and twisting it.

But English referee Steve Ganson, who annoyed both sides with his rulings, and his touch judges failed to see anything wrong.

Perrett eventually trotted away and bagged two tries in the Kiwis' 48-6 win, but was nursing a sore neck afterwards.

"I have got my thoughts but I'd rather keep them to myself," coach Stephen Kearney said.

However Kearney ruled out lodging a complaint about the tackle.

"We're not going to bother with that. If there was something we felt very strongly about, we could, but we won't be doing that.

"I would have been a bit rough if I was in Sam's shoes."

Kearney required some serious self-control when asked about Ganson's officious performance which he described as "different".

There were several bizarre penalty rulings while Perrett and Manu Vatuvei were denied tries after marginal forward pass calls.

Said Kiwis captain Nathan Cayless: "There were some strange decisions but we expected that and we had to deal with it."

PNG coach Adrian Lam was incensed by Ganson not keeping the Kiwis' defenders back 10m and even sent a "please explain" message to Ganson via a trainer during the match.

The Kiwis will probably have a leading Australian referee for their remaining tournament matches, starting with their final pool match against England in Newcastle on Saturday then a likely semifinal against the same opponents.

The Kiwis will also support moves by World Cup organisers to appoint an Australian official if they make the November 22 final, as the top NRL whistlers are seen as far superior to the English refs.

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