The NRL opted not to scrap the 40-20 tap restart at a meeting of its competition committee on Thursday, despite the fallout from the Parramatta-Canterbury clash. Referees will now blow their whistles to signal when a tap restart can be taken, giving the defensive line a chance to reset before play resumes.

"We are pleased that the NRL's competition committee has taken into account the issues raised on Friday [night] when making the changes to the 40-20 rule," said Eels chief executive Scott Seward.

"It's important that the game responds to these challenges appropriately and, when necessary, take action to resolve an issue. This particular change clarifies the tap restart for everyone while still rewarding the attacking team when they successfully execute a 40-20 kick."

Chris Sandow kicked a 40/20 in the dying minutes against the Bulldogs but his attempt to take a quick tap was disallowed when winger Vai Toutai passed the ball in after it was thrown to him by a 12-year-old ballboy. The Eels have rallied around the youngster, who will again be on duty in Friday's crucial clash with Manly.

Sandow leads the league in 40-20s kicked this season with five, just one behind the season record set by Brett Kimmorley in 1999. Their opponents on Friday, Manly, are the second most prolific exponents of the move this year.

Parramatta coach Brad Arthur reiterated his preference for a scrum to be packed, rather than the tap restart, at a news conference held before the rules committee convened. Several other coaches, most notably Manly's Geoff Toovey and Penrith's Ivan Cleary, have been critical of the innovation. However, the governing body chose to retain it after tweaking the rule.

"The tap kick was never designed to allow teams a lightning fast restart of play," said the NRL's head of football, Todd Greenberg. "It was introduced to eliminate time-wasting in setting up a scrum, which often negated the advantage of kicking a 40-20.

"The clarification of the rule is aimed at keeping the game flowing while giving defending teams a chance to get into position."

Wayne Bennett, Laurie Daley, Trent Robinson, John Lang, Daniel Anderson and Tim Sheens were among the competition committee luminaries signing off on the change at Rugby League Central.

Premiership-winning coach Robinson said the change in procedure would help eliminate confusion about when a tap restart can be taken.

"It will be clear to everyone now that the restart cannot be taken until the referee has blown his whistle," Robinson said.

Referees boss Tony Archer said referees would welcome the move.

"Teams will still be expected to be ready to restart play quickly but everyone will know when the tap can take place," he said.

Seward stated after last Friday's mix-up that the incident could cost the Eels hundreds of thousands of dollars if it resulted in the club missing the finals. However, they can keep their play-off hopes alive if they can upset the competition leaders.

"Pirtek Stadium has been a major part of our successful season and our members and supporters will play a major role in pushing the team towards the finals," Seward said.

The Eels have been boosted by the re-signing of forward David Gower, which will keep him in the blue and gold until at least the end of 2016.

"David is hard-working on the field and committed to his training, and sets a great example for the rest of our side, particularly our younger forwards," Arthur said.

"He's really come into his own as a player this year and I'm looking forward to seeing him continue to develop over the next two seasons."

Gower, who will come up against his former team on Friday, said: "I always felt I had the ability to play NRL week to week and I'm very grateful that Brad's showed the faith in me not just to play me week to week but to reward me with another two years."