Phoenix captain Andrew Durante and Newcastle striker Andrew Nabbout kept an irate Hoffman away from Rossi, who kept avoiding eye contact with his victim throughout the few minutes the game came to a halt.
Bosnich replied later: "I would think, clearly for Rossi, one ball isn't enough."
The commotion appeared to embarrass Hoffman as referee Jarred Gillet played on after talking to an assistant via his ear piece.
Where was the video assistant referee (VAR) when it became blatantly obvious what had happened?
Why didn't Gillett go up to the VAR?
Is anything going to happen to Rossi now because he shouldn't be allowed to get away with it?
The 30-year-old had no reason to engage in such despicable behaviour but, I suspect, he's under immense pressure from coach Darije Kalezic who had relegated him to the bench in a couple of games before Saturday.
Let it be known that the last-placed Phoenix thoroughly deserved their 3-2 victory against the second-placed Jets.
My preoccupation is with lowly acts, something I had encountered with a former Western Rangers Club teammate at St Leonard's Park, Hastings, more than a decade ago.
A talented player with a nose for goals, the Napier schoolteacher was too embarrassed to confess to the ref a South American opposition player had brought him down to his knees with a squirrel grip.
Frankly that's what happens when dirty tactics go unchallenged for so long that TV viewers start believing it's acceptable behaviour.
My pet hatred in the "beautiful game" always has been the ugliness that results from players using their hands. Putting your hands on someone is simply not a skill.
Here are some of the hands-on moments from the Phoenix v Jets game on Saturday:
■ 5th minute: Rossi grabbed forward Dimitri Petratos from behind.
■ 9th: Roy Krishna charged in behind Patito Rodriguez and then tried to plead innocent but as the commentator rightly pointed out "don't put your hands on a player might be the lesson learned there". Amen
■ 11th: Hoffman was in possession with Phoenix leftback Tom Doyle in pursuit when the latter grabbed his shirt from behind twice. When the referee blew his whistle for the foul Doyle started checking his mouth for what I suspect were signs of blood. If Doyle had copped a knuckle sandwich then I don't blame Hoffman at all. Ironically a game or two before, the Phoenix defender had tasted claret from an opposition player for a similar indiscretion. Frankly the natural reaction when you start feeling someone tugging your shirt is to brush them off with your arm.
■ 13th: The ref's assistant, wired for sound, was communicating with the whistle blower from near the corner flag before the Jets curled a cornerkick into the box. Petratos was rightly pinged for using his hand to control the ball rising to his chest. However, my beef was with Nix midfielder Matthew Ridenton wrapping both his arms around Petratos from behind well before the whistle went off.
■ 14th: A mindless left stiff arm from Jets player Wayne Brown to Michael McGlinchey's head drew another freekick.
■ 20th: Newcastle midfielder Daniel Georgievski surged to the top of the 18m box as Hoffman offered to run the angle on the right flank but Rossi grabbed Hoffman's shirt with his left hand while squaring up to Georgievski but the winger got through before Phoenix goalkeeper Lewis Italiano averted disaster.
■ 21st: Petratos grabbed Nix winger Nathan Burns' shirt amid speculation from the commentators the ref was allowing for advantage as Burns kept control and counterattacked.
■ 24th: Krishna dispossessed Patito Rodriguez with a shove of his right arm across the chest but, wait for it, the ref awarded a freekick to the Nix for a hand ball as the latter fell over the ball.
■ 40th: Krishna scooted off down the right flank with Nikolai Topor-Stanley tugging high on his shirt around the neck area although Andrija Kaludjerovic couldn't score from the ensuing pass about 5m in front of the goal. Advantage? (Can Kaludjerovic score with his feet?)
■ 51st: You get the picture with Rossi's crown-jewels moment here so there's no point carrying on.
Needless to say, Rossi continued with his shirt-pulling antics to concede a penalty kick in the 86th minute which Dimitri Petratos unconvincingly scored.
The reality is officials can and should stop the rot. They should be warning culprits who plant their hands on an opposition player to cut it out instantly the first time and then issue a yellow card the second time.
Do that and you'll find a more free-flowing game with skills rising to the top for more tidy spectacles that fans will turn out in droves to watch.
It won't be easy to eradicate that because it has been drummed into players to thwart attacks at any cost.
For the record, Rossi should have copped a straight red card and an early shower after the squirrel grip.
In signing Rossi in 2014, former Phoenix and current Jets coach Ernie Merrick had said: "No other country in the world has developed defenders like Italy and our young players like Dylan Fox can learn a lot from someone like Marco."
I disagree and wonder if Merrick still thinks that. It's time to release a player who reportedly arrived here having served a 20-month suspension after he was caught in a 2011 fixing scandal that rocked Italy.
