Referees are rugby league’s weakest link
Roar Guru By Curtis Woodward, 19 Aug 2012 Curtis Woodward is a Roar Guru & Live Blogger
- Tagged:
- Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm, NRL, referees
The referees were left with tough questions to answer following the Storm's win over the Broncos on Friday night. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Colin Whelan)
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After another controversial Friday night in the NRL and pressure continues to rise on the officials of the game. It’s time the officials and their superiors stood up and answered for their mistakes.
Wests Tigers went down 23-22 to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in a controversial showdown at ANZ Stadium which may cost the Tigers a spot in the Finals.
Players and coaches are accountable for their mistakes. Why aren’t the officials?
Even more disturbing for rugby league fans is the fear that runs through a referee’s body when the game is on the line and a decision is needed on the field. Instead of making a call, they simply let it go in case it decides the game.
Well unfortunately for the boys in pink, by not making a call they are inadvertently deciding the game anyway.
In the 78th minute of the clash at Suncorp Stadium on Friday between the Brisbane Broncos and the Melbourne Storm, Corey Parker went to the line and was met by three Storm defenders.
The veteran backrower attempted an offload in traffic and basically palmed the ball into Kevin Proctor’s chest. Proctor looked straight up at the referee and motioned that Parker had lost possession before wrapping his arms around the ball. Proctor then let go of it in fear he would give away a penalty for a strip. Parker regained the ball and the game went on.
The Broncos were down 19-18 and forty metres from the Storm tryline. If this had happened in the opening set of the game, the referee would have made a call.
Whether it was a strip or play on for the Storm, at least the referee made a call.
If it was a strip, Broncos would have had a penalty shot at goal to win the game.
The fact is, by not wanting to cost one team victory by making a call, they cost the Broncos the game anyway. The officials didn’t even call six again to Brisbane when it was clear for all to see that Proctor had played at the ball.
On an educational night, the benefit of the doubt rule was in the headlines too.
In Brisbane, Melbourne’s Sisa Waqa was awarded a try when it obviously looked like he lost the ball.
Down in Sydney, benefit of the doubt wasn’t even considered despite it appearing like Robbie Farah grounded the ball at some point after crossing the tryline for the Tigers.
At first referee Jarrod Maxwell called held up. Farah was adamant he scored and the referee went to the video referee. Video ref Sean Hampstead didn’t make a call either and sent it back to Maxwell.
What is the point of the video referee than?
The on-field referee made a call, changed it and sent it to someone else. That someone else looked at it six times and sent it back to the guy who didn’t want to make a call in the first place.
Referees are scared and amateurish at best. They’ve been coached into submission by their superiors and treated like an endangered species for so long that they‘re scared to do anything.
The worst thing to happen to referees was going full time.
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- Explore:
- Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm, NRL, referees
August 19th 2012 @ 3:31am
Johnno said | August 19th 2012 @ 3:31am | Report comment
-They are the very weak link but i think the interchange rule is rugby leagues weakest link. Get it down to 5 or 6, to many big men SBW , john sutton type builds, and greg inlglis type builds.
-Let’s increase the endurance , and bring back the little men the alan langers, the terry lamb’sthe phil blake’s, the cliffy lyon, the little or creative men.
-And the endurance men like the gary larson’s, and billy moore’s. and all the wrestling rubbish would be died down a splatters would be too exhausted to wrestle , and chicken wing, and jump on players legs and all these wrestling moves. 5-6 interchanges max, even 4.
-ANd cut the 10metre rule to 6-8 metres or even go back to 5metres.
-THat way under 5-7 emtres you get the pure big men the marty bella’s, sam backo/s steve roaches, glen lazuras type body shapes back in the game.
Not just the SBW, Greg inglis, john sutton, paul harrigan, brad clyde type builds.
August 19th 2012 @ 9:38am
Bearfax said | August 19th 2012 @ 9:38am | Report comment
You may have a valid point there Johnno about the number of interchanges. I would still keep the 10 metres. I think your reduced interchange would effectively deal with that issue.
As for the refs I dont think they are any worse than they were 50 years ago, and in fact probably slightly better. The problem is TV and the slow motion replay. The refereeing structure has not been able to keep up with the audience’s access to better views of play than the ref has. Video replays have been a plus, despite the number of mistakes being made….maybe they need three refs up there to determine an outcome. I dont like the two refs on the field because it leads to confusion with differing interpretations. I would have the linesmen made responsible for all offside play and away from the ball incidents and the ref to deal only with on the ball incidents. I think the Captain’s call, like in cricket, could be interesting with the same rules applied.
One thing we must start to get away from his the public outcries from coaches, the public, the Media about ref performances. It is placing too much pressure on refs and making them second guess themselves and make more mistakes. Perfect example the other evening was the Wests’ coach noting the shephard rule not applying to a certain incident, while the Dogs’ coach said it was OK. I have no objection to coaches taking their complaints to the ref authorities, but not in public, because every man and his dog has an alternative viewpoint, and usually biased by their interests, and this is placing far too much pressure on refs. If there is a problem, let the authority address it and perhaps additional technology needs to be added if it seems that refs are missing certain issues consistently.
The point is that 50 years ago we grumbled about refs and in 50 years hence we will grumble about refs. Lets just give them in an environment where they feel respected and supported, and if they make mistakes, its handled by those authorities that know what they are doing, not coaches, supporters and a witch hunting media
August 19th 2012 @ 6:47pm
paddyeff2 said | August 19th 2012 @ 6:47pm | Report comment
Well said.
August 20th 2012 @ 9:05am
Meesta Cool said | August 20th 2012 @ 9:05am | Report comment
On ya Bearfax. the refs are under the spotlight a full 80minutes, every player is whingeing in their ear like a bunch of spoilt schoolgirls and the one eyed commemorators are crucifying each decision to the masses. Blame the ref, (The easy way out!).
On Friday Melbourne were awarded a try (That should never be allowed), The refs were anti Brisbane!, Not many people noticed the many other 50/50 calls that went ‘anti Melbourne’!.
Robbie Farah scored what I thought to be a legitimate try (Even though I only thought I saw the ball on the ground), Was he denied because the refs are sick of him questioning their decisions and appealing 6000 times per game.?..
Yup, Who would be a Ref???.
August 20th 2012 @ 4:31pm
Robbo said | August 20th 2012 @ 4:31pm | Report comment
Of course the refs make mistakes, just like the players and the coaches and especially the so called experts who call the game and only reluctantly agree with the refs instant call after one or two slow motion replays. Take the refs out of the game and there isn’t a game. Like everyone else involved they are an essential part of the fabric.The real question is, what the hell have we done to the game to make it so confusing that no-one understands it any more?
August 20th 2012 @ 5:40pm
Bearfax said | August 20th 2012 @ 5:40pm | Report comment
That’s the crux of the problem Robbo. Not the refs but the rules we’ve developed that are too discretionary. That’s where the public, media, commentary teams etc need to be directing their concerns. Not at the refs or even the ref administration, but rather at the Administration of the game. Referees are just interpreting rules they have been instructed to follow. Seems though that many of the games’s rules are flawed, either by lack of clarity or unsuited to the game. Lay off the refs. Get on the people who run the game and ask them what they are doing about it…I mean they’re the ones paid the big bucks to make this game work.
August 19th 2012 @ 6:57am
steve b said | August 19th 2012 @ 6:57am | Report comment
Both the Tigers abd the Bronco’s will feel hard done by this week with the shepherd that wasn’t and the supossed torso put down that was clearly a lost ball both decisions cost the respective teams the game ..But oh don;t bag the refs ,we have been harping on this subject all year and still the dud calls keep happening ,,no one’s listening Harrigan needs to be given the flick and get someone in video box who can get it right or fix the bloody rules so those that inforce them can do it with confidence .. Its all over the place and all we are hearing ,,its a very hard job and we are doing our best WTF ,,and don’t you say anything about our little delicate selfs or we will fine you ten grand ..The one’s who need fining are the refs for bringing the game into disrepute not the coaches for simply asking the question .we all asking the bloody question when will it be fixed ..,Do away with the stupid Torso rule and make it hands only and fix the dumb obstruction ,shepherd rule back to the way it was,, a shepherd is a shepherd make it simple,, for the man in the middle ..
August 19th 2012 @ 7:50am
oikee said | August 19th 2012 @ 7:50am | Report comment
Yeah, why not, lets sink the boot into the refs. They bring it on themselves as well, going to the video ref all the time.
They should be like the rest of us, quiver in a corner or hide under a pillow every time they send a decision up to the mystery man in the box.
God help us. PLus the rules, designed to make the video refs, and the refs, look ordinary.
Knock-on rules, Torso rules, obstruction rules, all flawed. The ref is in a lose lose situation.
Same as the salary cap, everything points to this game being run ,like a doggies breakfast.
You cant be a professional comp when the forces are working agianst you, and the refs are on a hiding to nowhere.
Lets keep kicking them while they are down, as i said, they do themselves no favours by sending anything to the “man in the box”.
Who are these faceless men.
While afl and rugby are packing out the major stadiums, this little game bumbles around on little backstreet fields with their amatuer little rules and bumbling refs.
Having our callers being obsessed by a dud call is not helping either. Greg Alexander would not let the decision go last night, he keep going on about it for 10 mu\inutes, then brought it up all night.
The ball never touched the ground anyhow, even if it did, it was touch and go, the video ref made a call, 50/50.
Yet our callers go on, and on, and on about the decision. He was like a dog with a bone, then they wionder why the refs are scared to call.
The commentators should be charged for having a go at the refs,. Ex players who always critisize, and Gus.
August 19th 2012 @ 8:00am
oikee said | August 19th 2012 @ 8:00am | Report comment
I have a fantastic idea, it involves the coaches call, captains call whatever.
Dont have anymore video ref decisions, only a coaches or captains call. So the refs on the field always make the decisions, and if the coach finds anything wrong with the call , after watching a replay like the rest of us, he can then make a call if he wishes.
This will put all the decisions back into the refs hands, and not have a video look at every decision 10 times, unless the coach can see a mistake on the replay, only then can he deside to question the call. The refs get it right most of the time anyhow. Someone should do some stats.
This should clean up alot of calls the refs could easily make.
The way the game is, nearly every time a player scores the ref wants to send it upstairs. It just makes the game slow and frustrating.
Anyhow, it wont happen, this idea is too logical. I remember not long ago, they, (the commentators) wanted the refs to make the calls. Take controll, well give controll back to thenm, bring in the coach call and lets get on with it. Going to the video man only increses your mistake margin, looking at a replay 10 times frustrates everyone. I am hiding in the back room if we go to the video ref, it is scary stuff, a lottery.
August 19th 2012 @ 8:12am
eagleJack said | August 19th 2012 @ 8:12am | Report comment
Good to see Harrigan act and put an NRL ref in the box to assist the video ref. Jared Maxwell last night sat in with Russell Smith during the Souths/Sharks game. For me that’s a no brainer. 2 heads are always better than one and it should have been done sooner. But better late than never.
Now if only they could get cracking on a centralised video refs box then all our troubles would be solved….
August 19th 2012 @ 8:38am
steve b said | August 19th 2012 @ 8:38am | Report comment
Yes it took long enough ,2 heads are better than one , and why wasn;t it done sooner ? it took 2 really dud calls to prompt the decision one would have thought after SOO This would have been a given ,,but yes better late than never …
August 19th 2012 @ 6:47pm
Matt said | August 19th 2012 @ 6:47pm | Report comment
Until 1 thinks differently to the other, then what?
August 20th 2012 @ 5:47am
steve b said | August 20th 2012 @ 5:47am | Report comment
Punch up in the box !
August 19th 2012 @ 8:15am
M.O.C. said | August 19th 2012 @ 8:15am | Report comment
I have a better idea. Lose the video ref altogether, have 1 ref, 2 touch judges. I can cop a bed decision when it happens in real time – that is part of the game. What I find impossible to accept is poor decisions with video evidence! Also, I think the refs and players are not too familiar. The refs call the players by their nicknames, the players call the refs anything they want with no consequence. The refs need to be tough and earn some respect back.
August 19th 2012 @ 11:27am
Dogs Of War said | August 19th 2012 @ 11:27am | Report comment
That was even worse. I am old enough to have lived through the era of ingoal touch judges, and even before they went that way because the ref’s were getting it wrong.
As Oikee said, captains/coaches challenge is the only way to go. Make ref’s call the game as they see it, and if a team believes they got dudded then they have an opportunity to challenge it. Just apply the criteria that their must be a natural break in play to challenge (ie knock on, any change of possession etc). If the ball somehow happens to still be in play after a change in possession, then the first tackle should see time off and the challenge start from their.
August 19th 2012 @ 4:36pm
oikee said | August 19th 2012 @ 4:36pm | Report comment
Dogs of War, just think how complicated they are going to make this game. If you fixed the rules and changed a few minor details, all this could be fixed. Now they are going to introduce more replays, more stoppages, more angry refs being run at and yelled at by captains. Mate,
this game is hillarious.
While rugby union are filling all the big stadiums, and AFL will have 50 to 80 and 100 thousand crowds, Manly and Cronulla will struggle to fill 20 thousand at semi finals time.
The Rabbits are stewed, and their making rabbits foots from the carcass already. The Broncos are gone, so no crowds or people watching.
August 19th 2012 @ 6:48pm
Matt said | August 19th 2012 @ 6:48pm | Report comment
Oh yes, the officiating last night was brilliant…
August 19th 2012 @ 9:31pm
mick h said | August 19th 2012 @ 9:31pm | Report comment
last nights test match did not even sellout. don’t start about rugby kings defeated grammer 100-0 yesterday in the GPS
competition. they have massive problems at the grassroots level and it reflects in the performances at super 15 and test level. on the nrl the game needs to go back to one referee the super league has it and i love watching it.
August 19th 2012 @ 8:51am
Jayden said | August 19th 2012 @ 8:51am | Report comment
Get Rid of Bill Harrigan and all the clowns, the hodges try in origin and frank prichard on friday night where classic rugby league sheppards and get awarded a try. but when it came to the cowboys manly game acouple of weeks ago glenn hall hit the ground by himself and was not even close to being obstructed but they get a penalty?get some one in who has common sense because bill has none!
August 19th 2012 @ 9:19am
B.A Sports said | August 19th 2012 @ 9:19am | Report comment
I liked what Greg Alexander said yesterday. Rugby league is refereed, three different ways – 1 way for Origin, 1 way for the NRL and another way for Golden Point – that is, in Golden Point, they don’t referee. In the Dogs v Tigers game nobody was onside ever during extra time, it was a farce.
And the biggest farce – after the winning golden point field goal, you could hear Cummins call Maxwell back because he was going to halfway for the restart and Cummins had to remind him it was golden point, game over and blow full time! – Crazy.
As for video refs. I used to play a bit of sport with Sean Hampstead, he’s a great guy, an intelligent guy, and impossible to fluster. But I’m done defending him. I told my wife on Friday night, despite watching 6-7 games a week I officially don’t know the rules of the game if that is a legal try (The Wright try)
August 19th 2012 @ 10:02am
Lovey said | August 19th 2012 @ 10:02am | Report comment
I think with the Farrar no-try, the ref felt he had been held up. But he went upstairs, anyway, so there must have been some doubt in his mind. The technology is there, use it, and there is no harm in going upstairs for a while. But given nothing could be seen on the replay “refs call” was correct, not ” benefit of the doubt”. In the other cases, the video ref sees what we see, so for those other cases, he did not think a shepherd, or separation from ball and hands, were significant. It is a matter of interpretation in grey areas. But if they do away with the video ref, there will be MORE bad decisions, and the TV, and us, will be repaying each incident, and showing it up.
August 19th 2012 @ 2:02pm
JVGO said | August 19th 2012 @ 2:02pm | Report comment
I think it’s almost got to the point that it doesn’t matter anymore. The reffing is so bad and the outcome changing clangers are so ubiquitous that it is to the point where over the course of the season it is just about going to even out. Like Wests lost on Friday because of a ref who had no idea, but they won in round one when another ref made up a new rule in order that they win. So everything’s about even in the end. All we need to do is keep the comedy going. The video refs and blind freddies on the paddock can just make as many mistakes as they like because the odds are that it will even out across the board for all the teams. SO your season’s on the line? Why worry, the odds are that you were the beneficiary of some bizarre inexplicable reffing decision earlier in the season, or perhaps even the same game. Don;t worry, be happy, harrigan knows exactly what he’s doing. But in the Grand Final???Or for Origin??? who knows, maybe bring back Greg hartley or maybe even Bill himself.