Souths’ Maguire concerned over refereeing
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A restrained Michael Maguire expressed concerns refereeing calls had the potential to hurt all NRL teams after two controversial decisions featured heavily in South Sydney’s 22-18 victory over the Gold Coast on Sunday.
Just 24 hours after frustrated Manly coach Geoff Toovey called on the NRL to urgently review the obstruction rule after claiming it cost his side two tries in their 8-6 win over the Cowboys, video referee Sean Hampstead again found himself in the spotlight following two disputed first half decisions – both of which fell Maguire’s way.
“I think coaches over the past few weeks have emphasised everything about the refs and there were obviously some interesting ones out there again,” the Rabbitohs coach said.
“I’ll go through the right channels and talk to them about it.
“I just hope at some stage it doesn’t hurt us.”
Hampstead disallowed a 33rd minute try to Gold Coast winger David Mead, ruling teammate Luke O’Dwyer had pushed rival forward Chris McQueen in the back.
A minute later Hampstead gave the green light to a try up the other end of the field to Rabbitoh winger Justin Hunt after numerous looks at the video.
Titan’s skipper Scott Prince however felt a slight touch by McQueen had deflected the ball forward.
“I thought I had it covered,” said Prince when asked if there was a deflection.
Cartwright, who in the past has unloaded on match officials was prepared for the line of questioning.
“I thought you (media) would want to talk about that,” grinned the Titans coach at the post-match press conference when asked about two highly controversial decisions.
“I don’t think anyone would have been surprised if they both had gone the other way.”
Cartwright then borrowed a Forrest Gump quote to express his thoughts saying: “you don’t really know what you’re going to get”.
Cartwright’s comments may have been different had he not received an official NRL memo last week outlining what coaches could and couldn’t say about whistle blowers.
“I don’t even know what I can say to be honest with you,” he said.
“I’d rather not talk about the refs, they’re coping a hard time as it is.”
Souths deserved the win, their sixth in a row for the first time since 1994. The final scoreline made closer after late Titans’ tries to Aidan Sezer and Kevin Gordon.
Prince, revealed he had “copped a decent spray” from Souths players after speedy winger Andrew Everingham picked off his cut-out pass and sprinted 90 metres to score in the 51st minute to extend the lead to 16-6.
“I just said ‘I’m coming back for you, so don’t fall asleep’,” he said.
Asked if he could repeat what was said to him, Prince replied: “we’ll just leave it on the field, that’s what normally happens.”
© AAP 2013The Crowd Says (15) | Page 1 of Comments
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August 6th 2012 @ 9:22am
eagleJack said | August 6th 2012 @ 9:22am | Report comment
I have said before that it really isn’t the refs fault but more the material they are working with. An overhaul of the rulebook is required. If you sat down with 10 refs and asked them about the obstruction rule you would get 10 different answers. That is not good enough.
I also believe that it is high time we move to having a solitary video referee room at NRL headquarters. What is the point of having the video ref at the ground? You could adjudicate every game from the one state-of-the-art room. Have every single bit of technology available for our video refs. The cost of this one room would be on par with maintaining the dozen or so we have now. How Hampstead missed the McQueen knock on yesterday leading to the Hunt try beggars belief. But then again I was watching the game on a crystal clear TV. Something our video refs can only dream of.
August 6th 2012 @ 9:42am
Ian Whitchurch said | August 6th 2012 @ 9:42am | Report comment
EagleJack,
“Have every single bit of technology available for our video refs.” requires having those bits of technology at every ground.
Me, I say hire a referee and two linesmen and let them do their job, and spend the money you were going to spend on the technology on buying kids footy boots.
August 6th 2012 @ 10:03am
eagleJack said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:03am | Report comment
I disagree Ian. All we need at the grounds are HD capable cameras which we are already using. The technology I refer to is being able to focus in on a particular image and clean it up. Separation issues, missed touches/knock ons etc will be a thing of the past.
Look Im no expert in costs etc (far from it) but I know that we are never going to move away from the video ref situation (as you suggest). If anything we are going to become more and more reliant on that aspect of the game. So I say that we must improve it and having one room is the way to go. Initial outlay will be large but the benefits far outweigh the costs in my opinion.
August 6th 2012 @ 10:31am
Ian Whitchurch said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:31am | Report comment
eagleJack,
Right. How many HD cameras, covering what angles. Are they operated by people, and if so who pays for them. Do you have them at every ground, or just at some of them.
The only benefit you get is going from ‘the ref got it wrong!’ to ‘the video ref got it wrong !’
August 6th 2012 @ 10:49am
eagleJack said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:49am | Report comment
Sorry you’ve lost me. They are using these cameras at the grounds now. We don’t need to add anymore.
And we are already screaming “the video ref got it wrong” more than the “ref got it wrong”. People can forgive an on-field ref, who has a split second to make a decision, getting things wrong. But we are less inclined to feel empathy for the video refs who, after looking at numerous camera angles a number of different times, still come up with howlers.
August 6th 2012 @ 1:38pm
B.A Sports said | August 6th 2012 @ 1:38pm | Report comment
The Video Refs would already have the direct feed at the ground. It is the most clear feed you can have because the images do not have to bounce off of any satellites, so the picture does not get any better than what they and the commentators have at the ground.
August 6th 2012 @ 11:10am
Nafe said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:10am | Report comment
Agree, The rules or Interpretations have been consistantly tinkered with during the Harrigon reign. Rugby league is a simple gaim and we need to get back to the black and white calls. Interpretation should have nothing to do with it, If you run behind your own player, its a sheapard, your first grade footballers so you should be able to position yourselves better than blamiong the referee about the black and white call.
The referees are easy targets now because of these interpretaions, seperation and all that garbage. Lets get back to a propper try of control and downward pressure with the hands rather than this seperation garbage.
I saw a try on Saturday night awarded to the DOggies when the doggies player clearly missed the ball with his hands and his forearm brushed the ball while the ball was on the ground. Co control, no pressure, no nothing except an unintentional contact with the forearm.
Sometimes i can hardly recognise this game I once loved.
August 6th 2012 @ 10:12am
steve b said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:12am | Report comment
In every game on the weekend their was controversial calls ,,Des looks like he is going to get fined ten grand for speaking out ,,their has to be contact between the men in the middle and the video ref during the coarse of play ,,we all want decisions that are right ,,we all want our team to have the best chance of winning but when you get the wrong calls it can change the coarse of a game and does ..Yes you have to cop some bad ones and hope they equal out during the coarse of the game ,,but at the moment some of the missed calls are of tap and some of the video ref calls are the same ..Yes its a hard job ,,but they chose to be refs ,,so why can’t we expect to get the right calls ..For mine they all need to go back to ref school,,..And don’t dare bag them or we’ll fine you ,, the decisions this year seem to be a talking point every week ,,Something needs to be done ,,because their the one’s who are letting the NRL DOWN AT THE MOMENT !! ..
August 6th 2012 @ 10:53am
Roarsome said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:53am | Report comment
Souths were benefactors of two BIG calls yesterday. One denied the Titans a try and the other gave Souths a try. In the latter there was clear evidence of a knock-on by a Souths player in the lead up. There is a problem but I think the Commission don’t have an answer at the moment and will work to fix it. With the obstruction rule, players are permitted to run behind teammates provided no defender is attempting to make a tackle. How many times do fullbacks run behind teammates returning the ball. No attempted tackle, no obstruction.
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August 6th 2012 @ 11:13am
Nafe said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:13am | Report comment
That still should be called obstruction though, The defenders are lining up ready to tackle, they are set and then have to take to steps to the side to get around the opposition player coming back on side, Even though they weren’t making a tackle, the defencive line was obstructied, therefore penalty.
Like I said before, Lets remove these interpretations and gget back to running behind a player is a penalty, no matter the situation. These are first grade footballers, If they can’t get out of the way its their fault.
August 6th 2012 @ 1:44pm
B.A Sports said | August 6th 2012 @ 1:44pm | Report comment
The no try to Brett Stewart was 100% correct, despite the stock standard sulking from Toovey. Stewart got the ball and ran behind Matai. To be it was a no brainer and the video ref got it right..
August 6th 2012 @ 2:45pm
eagleJack said | August 6th 2012 @ 2:45pm | Report comment
Yeah the Matai/Tate obstruction was fair based on past rulings this year. But please don’t tell me the Watmough/Hall one was correct. Absolutely disgraceful decision with Hall diving to the ground before Watmough was even near him!
August 7th 2012 @ 6:50am
getoverit said | August 7th 2012 @ 6:50am | Report comment
did anyone read roy masters article today “Dramatic licence: whistleblowers in danger of playing to script to ensure theatrical finale”?
or
did anyone see the four corners episode last night on race fixing titled “Inside Mail?
to quote four corners: “Last year the nation spent billion punting on horses. Most people put their money down believing the races are a true contest, but are they?”
now in the above quote replace “billions” with millions and “horses” with footballers and “the races” with the nrl
maybe there is something going on in rugby league that is a bit more sinister than theatrics.
August 7th 2012 @ 1:19pm
The Barry said | August 7th 2012 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
Part of me thinks it’s a cop out that the coaches nail the refs every week. But then I watch a couple of games and by half past super saturday I’m over the refs.
The comments from Suttor to Robinson were outrageous. I got the sense that Robinson was aware it was inappropriate and trying to be as non-committal as possible. At the moment I choose to believe that he was simply commenting on the state of the game (which he shouldn’t be doing anyway). If it turns out that there’s some sort of mandate to keep games close then everyone involved should be axed.
Suttor is THE worst ref I’ve ever seen. I saw on Fox Sports News this morning that Tallis went him on Monday Night Extra. I’ve taped it and can’t wait to watch it.
It used to be a simple game. If someone dropped the ball and it went forward it was a knock on. Now refs need to consider, was it knocked out, did he play at it, did he touch it with his foot, etc, etc.
There’s too much fine tooth combing of the rule book.
The refs have completely lost the ability to back themselves. The call in the Sharks v Panthers game where Coote was off side at the charge down was the perfect example. One of the refs said “we’re going to have to check that” but when the Panthers didn’t score didn’t have the courage of his convictions to follow his initial instinct and blow the play up which would have been the right decision.
August 7th 2012 @ 5:08pm
Maximus said | August 7th 2012 @ 5:08pm | Report comment
Masters has a different view
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/dramatic-licence-whistleblowers-in-danger-of-playing-to-script-to-ensure-theatrical-finale-20120806-23qe1.html