With the Panthers in possession leading 14-6 with just over five minutes on the clock, Manu was penalised for lashing out at Bird following a tackle the NSW and Australian forward had just made.

Penrith co-captain Peter Wallace was heard over the referees microphone saying "he grabbed him on the nuts", however Bird went unpenalised despite the protest from the Panthers.

In the aftermath of his side's two-point loss at Sportingbet Stadium on Monday night, Bird denied the accusations of a "squirrel grip", making a joke out of claims there was any R-rated content in the tackle on Manu.

"I don't know mate, I just tackled him," Bird said. "I don't know what he was blowing up about. You get them ones. Nothing R-rated, not that I know of. He wasn't that lucky."

Manu didn't want to comment after the match but it is understood he won't lodge an official complaint despite standing behind his original on-field protest.

Wallace wouldn't be drawn into the accusations after the match, but said the incident should have been sent upstairs for closer examination. The penalty could have proved to be a huge turning point given the Titans scored from the ensuing set and had a chance to win the game.

"You'd have to talk to Sika about that," Wallace said. "Obviously something happened in the tackle. He refused to look at it on the video, which normally happens. It was a bit of a turning point, yeah."

Bird could come under scrutiny from the match review committee for the tackle. South Sydney forward Sam Burgess copped a two-week ban last season for a squirrel grip on Melbourne Storm centre Will Chambers, however Sharks forward Tinirau Arona went unpunished despite a similar incident involving St George Illawarra's Jason Nightingale in round three.

The match was filled with conjecture over refereeing decisions, with the Titans winning the penalty count 11-10.

Both Penrith and Gold Coast had reason to question some of the decisions, with Bird admitting the ruck had become a lottery.

"It is a bit like that, and at the end of the day you can't find out what's going on with the referee because he's sending you away and they want to continue the play on constantly," he said.

"It's hard to address what's gone wrong when they are getting up and playing the ball two metres to the side and our markers are getting penalised for not being square. The ruck is a lottery at the moment because it's so fast, and I guess that's what they wanted with the rule changes - to speed it up. You just have to hold on for grim life ... it's a frustrating penalty-athon out there."