Australian captain Darren Lockyer says players will need to smarten up their act with NRL referees primed to crack down on bad habits which have detracted from rugby league as a spectacle.

Incoming NRL referees boss Bill Harrigan flagged the crackdown to NRL coaches in Sydney this week saying whistle-blowers would strictly police the play-the-ball and marker areas and get tougher with the on-side rule at restarts.

While some players and coaches will be unhappy with the order to "go back to basics" this season, Lockyer believes it's a move that's well overdue and one which players and fans will ultimately embrace.

He predicted a spate of penalties in the pre-season trials but hoped the message would get through in time for the season kick-off next month.

"It's about getting players back in the right habits in the play-the-ball area," said Lockyer on Thursday.

"It was becoming a big concern that a lot of guys weren't playing the ball with their foot. They were stepping off the mark, moving sideways and milking penalties because the marker wasn't square.

"I'm in favour of tidying that area up. It's important because if we just keep letting that go it will just keep getting worse."

Lockyer warned players to prepare for referees to be "harping on about it" during the upcoming trials.

"We could even see some results decided on those sorts of penalties because that's the only way it's going to sink in (with the players)," he said.

Meanwhile Brisbane coach Ivan Henjak said the onus was on the players to make adjustments and get rid of some of their "bad habits" before the season kicked off.

"As long as the referees stay consistent, I haven't got an issue with it," Henjak said on Thursday.

"We've got time to adjust with the trial games.

"There could be some coaches not real happy in the first few weeks if there's a lot of penalties blown and there could be some penalties that swing games for something that is not a mortal sin.

"They (the referees) want to go back to the basics and what the laws of the game are and I can understand that."

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