RIVAL coaches yesterday backed Nathan Brown's outspoken attack on Melbourne's controversial wrestling tactics as the NRL announced the St George Illawarra mentor would not be fined for suggesting other teams take matters into their own hands when they play the Storm.

While Storm chief executive Brian Waldron threatened Brown with legal action over his comments in the wake of last Monday night's spiteful encounter, the coaches of at least four other clubs offered him their support - including Ivan Cleary, whose Warriors side hosts Melbourne tomorrow.

Newcastle's Brian Smith, who phoned Brown to, he reported, "say good on him", Penrith's Matthew Elliott and Canberra's Neil Henry also endorsed the Huddersfield-bound Dragons coach's stand.

Their response is further indication of the hostility other teams feel towards the Storm over their efforts to control the ruck with wrestling holds.

Cronulla coach Ricky Stuart and his Sydney Roosters counterpart, Brad Fittler, also spoke out against Melbourne's tactics earlier in the week. Brisbane's Wayne Bennett and Parramatta's Michael Hagan have complained in the past.

"I think the point he was making - and I'm making - is that if the opposition are going to bend the rules and play aggressively, maybe with some technique about it, if you don't have the technique, you've got two options: you either cop it or you do something about it," Smith said. "I suppose if you don't have the technique, then all you've got left is good old-fashioned aggression."

Brown, whose outburst was prompted by Melbourne fullback Billy Slater's judiciary claim he had been headbutted by Jason Nightingale, had suggested that officials were allowing the Storm to get away with their illegal tactics - such as a grapple tackle on five-eighth Jamie Soward that sparked a brawl.

Cleary and Elliott said subtle changes to how referees policed the ruck would help to eliminate the problem.

"I guess what Brownie said was right," Cleary said. "It's up to the referees to adjudicate the way they see it, but I think it would be really easy to change just by the way the ruck is interpreted. The Storm are very good at it, they obviously do a hell of a lot of practice on it and we could never be as good as they are so I'm not going to worry too much about it."

Elliott, who first brought the issue of the grapple tackle to light in 2003 after his then Canberra fullback Clinton Schifcofske suffered an ongoing neck injury in a match against the Storm, said it was pointless trying to identify each new wrestling move and then to outlaw them.

"I want to endorse what Brownie said - it's not Melbourne, it's how the game is policed," Elliott told radio station 2KY.

"The difference between Melbourne and a lot of teams is that Melbourne have been doing this since 2002 and their technique has progressed in that time so when they identify one thing that they're doing wrong they are able and good enough to move to another part of the body.

"The way to really address it is to police the ruck differently and have a demand that the ruck only takes a certain amount of time in different scenarios.

"What I liked about what Brownie said was that if guys are going to get squeezed around the neck and the officials aren't going to do anything about it then c I think coaches should be instructing their players to arc up a bit and whinge and moan and complain about it."

Henry revealed that he had complained privately to NRL officials about Melbourne's tactics in the past and said he understood the frustrations that led to Brown suggesting rival teams should turn matches against the Storm into a "bloodbath" to make officials act.

"I don't know about a bloodbath but if players are getting frustrated by certain tackling styles, well, then that might lead to a few things on the field," Henry said.

"It's been raised by a number of coaches and I'm one coach that's raised that issue before."

- Wendell Sailor has been recalled to the Dragons side for Monday night's clash with the Bulldogs and is expected to be used as an impact forward after starting on the interchange bench. Sailor replaces lock Ben Creagh, who has been sidelined for six weeks with a quadriceps injury.