"THE penalty count is 5-0 against you in the second half," referee Gavin Badger told Alan Tongue tonight.

The Canberra captain did not need to be told of that fact. He was all too aware of it, 10 minutes into the second session.

It was Monday Night Football at Canberra Stadium, the Raiders (cheered on by Mark Webber) had led Brisbane (backed by Kevin Rudd) 18-0 and were battening down the hatches.

"I definitely didn't need reminding," Tongue said after the 22-14 win, "and then he (Badger) blew another one and it was six penalties in a row there.

"I don't think we were doing too much different to the first half."

Under the circumstances, Brisbane should probably have reeled in the entire 18 points and won their second match of the year. The previous week, they led 20-0 - only for North Queensland to roar back to 20-20.

On Sunday, Manly lost after leading 20-0 into the second half. North Queensland twice trailed by 12 against Penrith and won. Wests Tigers led Sydney Roosters early and ended up conceding 44 points.

Why?

The "problem" with over-technical refereeing and the comebacks are inextricably linked, reckons Tongue. "I think so - Darren Lockyer mentioned it at the coin toss. He said ‘geez, there've been a lot of penalties blown over the weekend'.

"They're trying to be as strict as they can be on the play-the-ball. We've just got to be as disciplined as we can be."

According to Brisbane coach Ivan Henjak, though, it's just that time of year. "It's only early in the season," he observed, "teams aren't match fit.

"When you get a bit of a run of posession against you, you knock up and as a result you see those shifts."

His captain, Darren Lockyer, agrees. "It's happening a fair bit at the moment and it's probably because it's early in the season ... once a team gets a bit of football, you just get all the momentum in the game."

Raiders coach David Furner had a bet each way. "I watched the games on the weekend there, obviously, and when you talk about momentum shifts or changes, it could be through errors or penalties.

"It is taking a fair bit out of the sides. I thought after round one, you've got to think about the pre-season trials and gearing yourself up for the first game and puting everything into it.

"Whether you won or lost, you're still chewing up a lot of energy. Sides were getting away to good leads and then getting clawed back. It almost happened tonight."

Almost. There are so many "miracle" comebacks right now that it's almost as if they should be expunged from the records, as if they are out of the hands of those who stage them.

If they slowly stop, it seems we can blame the pre-season and the summer for them. If they continue, we can blame the same person we blame for everything else: the ref.