The new season gave many of us footy lovers hope for better refereeing in the NRL and footy generally. I reckon the men in pink are improving year to year – not in every case, but overall.
So why was there special hope for a ‘refereeless’ season in 2014?
Apart from the usual re-shuffle of who is running the Island of Match Officials, with Tony Archer taking his turn in the hot seat, Todd Greenberg is now in charge of all things footy at NRL headquarters.
To read more Brian Smith, outside The Roar, check out his website SmithySpeaks.
In 2014 we also have:
• New technology for measurement and accuracy of the 10 metres.
• A new hierarchical match crew with a head ref and his assistant, who maintains most of the match in the pocket ref position.
• Communication from the video refs to media commentary.
• Measures to speed up the game, including allowing (some) quick taps/no chat from the captain/seven play sets from 20m restarts.
• Safety measures such as penalising cannonball tackles and a heavier policing of clubs regarding the concussion rule.
The footy has generally been good so far. Certainly the speed of the game has worked a treat, with the time between stoppages and the re-starts really moving the game along. The actual speed of the play is still being decided by the players, which is a good thing – we saw what happens when it is artificially altered with Super League’s “roll away” order to tacklers.
How has the 10 metres gone? Yeah, I know – pretty good except when the refs are allowing your team’s opponents off side all the time every week. It’s very subjective, but apparently the refs get a print-out of exactly how they adjudicated the 10 metres on every ruck of the match.
Wouldn’t you love to see that? Would it do all of us fans and pseudo-experts good to see the records of those technologically created figures?
I am concerned about the ‘boss ref’ system. It’s a good idea to have one man in charge but I don’t like the way they are implementing it on occasions. By changing so often from the 10 metre/main ref to ruck/pocket ref in the middle of a set of play, it appears to unsettle all concerned. And for what purpose?
This area is very congested so I can see a massive collision happening as the refs do their version of changing places. Why do they do it at that moment? They get too close too often.
I have seen the ball nearly hit the pocket ref and also seen dummy halves change their option when they have attempted to make a last-minute decision only to find a man in pink in the way.
Another cause for concern is the frustration of players in at least some of the matches so far. We all like that captains can’t slow the game down any more with crap chat, but a little more communication at appropriate times might assist in better relationships and less angst.
There appears to be a growing trend of inconsistency and poor communications with players associated with this ‘I am the Boss referee’ structure. Certainly a ‘punch on’ early in the Manly versus Souths match, as was tossed up in some quarters, is not the answer. But it’s a concern that players and fans are feeling like this in a number of games.
The anger seems to be a result of relationships with the referees, as opposed to what is happening between opposing players. Ref Jared Maxwell seemed to lose it a bit on Sunday at Brookvale too.
Most of the other measures introduced are either having little impact or no negatives. Perhaps they will have greater effect as time goes by. Maybe we just all need to give it a little more time to settle in?
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