What game are the video refs playing?

 
Steve Kaless Roar Guru

By , 11 May 2009 Steve Kaless is a Roar Guru

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Bryson Goodwin diving for the corner, NRL - St George Illawarra Dragons V Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Jonathan Ng

Bryson Goodwin diving for the corner, NRL - St George Illawarra Dragons V Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Jonathan Ng

Few people with any class would have watched the antics of Chelsea’s Didier Drogba and felt that the striker covered himself in glory. Referees in all sports have a tough job and it can be highly frustrating to see them make mistakes as I wrote about last week.

But on reflection you normally cut them a break as they are working under extreme circumstances and having to make split second decisions.

But does the same go for video referees?

Last week I moaned about referees on the field lacking empathy with tacklers attempting to do their job. Now I set about this week determined not to write about referees but after watching the Test match and the matches to date there can be simply no alternative.

It all started on Friday night as the Kangaroos cruised past the Kiwis. As the hosts set about running a coaching clinic in attacking football for their trans tasman cousins, I stood in awe as they executed a perfect play which sent Billy Slater over untouched.

It took great timing for Slater and Justin Hodges and a superb sleight of hand by Darren Lockyer to throw the perfect pass as they absolutely bamboozled the Kiwis defence.

The result? No try.

Video referee Bill Harrigan had decided that Hodges had run an obstruction. Goose. Anyone watching the video would have seen Manu Vatuvai committing to Hodges and charging in field. There is no way the Aussies should have been punished for his error.

As I said last week, it is my opinion that the majority of referees fail to understand the nature of defence and I reckon the same goes here.

A failure to appreciate the decision making process in defence, when to go in, stay out etc means that referees can’t work out whether or not a player was an obstruction.

It doesn’t help that defenders often play up the role of others when all hope of stopping the attacker is lost.

How often do we see players clatter into other attacking players before dramatically falling to the ground or appealing to the referee when they were at long odds to even get near the player in possession.

I’m sure coaches are instructing players to do so in a last ditch attempt to stop a try. I know I would.

But it didn’t end with Harrigan.

Sean Hampstead was at it at the Newcastle match, disallowing a try to William Zillman and ruling Scott Prince was an obstruction.

Scott Prince played the ball, just what he is meant to do after that short on evaporating is anyone’s guess on this ruling.

I’ve seen it time and time again over the years, and with greater frequency, as a player dives over from dummy half the defenders realise they have been done and crash into the player who has played the ball and claim obstruction.

Rarely would they have stopped the player scoring but more often than not they get the penalty.

It’s garbage. If you are allowed to score from dummy half then it might happen that defenders may come in contact with the previously tackled player but they really need to ask themselves, would it have made any difference?

But the obstruction rule seems pretty straight forward compared to grounding the ball after our diligent referees have come up with their new interpretation.

You must ground the ball with downward pressure, but this year you can be actually dropping the ball so long as there no “separation” between the hand and the ball when it is touching the ground.

However, the rotund Paul Simpkins has also decided to add into the mix that you can ground the ball with your chest. That should clear things up.

The honourable Mr Simpkins in his many replays to determine whether Jamie Lyon had knocked the ball on failed to look at the precedent of Jaryd Hayne a few weeks ago when he was penalized and a classic try became the one that got away.

Are these matters even discussed to get some sort of consistency? It doesn’t seem so.

Imagine it decided a Grand Final. Well in fact it did in 2006, little seems to have been learned since then.

Of course, I doubt we could actually do without our video referees as the referees seem to get blasted when they don’t go upstairs as well.

At least Des Hasler was happy with the performance this week.

What did Steve Price say about referees and winning matches again? He looks to have been proven right.

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