Australian referees offside with IRB

I'm celebrating the well deserved ousting of Mr O'Brien myself Bakkies and so must Mr Johnston and that previous Fiji RWC team :-)

Ian Smith was diabolical last year in the second half of the Reds - Tahs game and this year gifted the Reds the game as an AR when he called a forward pass to prevent a legitimate try. The refs boss even admitted it on TV, He's got about as much credibility as Kaplan!

Well it was well worth celebrating maybe Spiro being from NZ would be unhappy about Paddy moving on

"my article to celebrate the resignation of Paddy O’Brien" I think your answer might be in these words you wrote.

I find you need the same mentality to become an international ref as you would a politician. You've got to be self confident, thick skinned and absolute. There is no room for fence sitters or hesitation. As PeterK said, throw in a need to be super fit, fast and willing to work for virtually no money initially and be hated by 50% of a packed stadium it makes you wonder why anybody would want to become a ref! I would like to see more ex-players referee a game though. Paul Reiffel's doing alright!

Not sure currently but they are on a reasonably good wicket. Unfortunately, unless you're a panel referee, you get virtually nothing. It may have changed somewhat but I was reffing years ago and I know a trial game I reffed (at Premier level) where there were a considerable number of contracted players (Horan, Little et al) making hundreds of thousands of $$ playing. Well, it cost me petrol money to get there plus my refereeing fees, which provided me with shirt, shorts and socks (wow). Bought a pair of boots (no sponsorship there) but you did it for the love of the game and keeping involved. Had to give up as it took up my whole Saturday and with a young family, wasn't worth the effort in the long run. If it meant dollars in the pocket, then it could be justified, but as I was on the Gold Coast reffing in the Brisbane comp it ended up costing a fortune. Not sure what the situation is now but as someone has pointed out, kids go to soccer, league and Aust rules as they get some pocket money out of it...or certainly a whole lot more than in rugby. Doesn't matter what you do, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys!

Maybe they need to target ex-players like they have in NRL and cricket and fast track them through the system. Though lord knows the IRB are exactly known for their innovation so it could be a long time coming. It may also depend on what they are paying Refs these days as to wether ex-players would be interested. Does anyone know what an international Ref gets paid?

Any idea on why my article that I wrote to celebrate the resignation of Paddy O'Brien wasn't posted?

i dont want to belittle their role as without ref's there'd be no game, but when i was asked to become a ref i replied "why would i want to ref when i play?"

To be a ref is similar to being a masochist. Why would you put yourself in a position to be abused on a regular weekly basis and be outcast from the general mass of rugby mates that you might have had when you played. That is generally the position of the majority of young refs. There is not too much of an incentive to referee. And as one of the posters has alluded to its just as political trying to get up the ranks as a ref as trying to get to the top if you are a player, perhaps more so. So I ask the question why would you be a ref????

mitzter - i know who u mean. but back to this topic the referee doesnt have to be an ex-international he/she just has to be someone who played and enjoyed the game. walsh never made international honours i dont even think he made provincial teams before his neck injury forced him into refereeing. he does all right because he enjoys the game and knows what its like to play it.

as a practisng ref I can tell you most of the reasons the best refs dont get through. To start of with they pay rugby refs less than half soccer or league refs. So a lot of youth go and ref those games, they are a damn site easier to ref and you get paid more. Then comes the assessment system. First and foremost they value speed, you have to be able to sprint quite fast to get to the top grades. Doesnt matter if you cant manage a game, get your laws wrong, dont have repore with players or no feel for the game. Then the referee coaches pretend it is a 2 way discussion BUT if you dont just accept their assessment they downgrade you. The assessment is micro focused ie how many decsions did you get wrong / miss, what laws did you get wrong, how many times didnt you get in the right position. Too bad if it was a good , flowing game, entertaining, and the players got to enjoy the game, and the better team won. Essentially none of these things come into it. So if you only reffed material issues, and was consistent in letting some aspect go both ways it is highly likely you will get marked down. So imagine the type of refs who get marked the best. First the friends / mates of the coaches since it is always political, then the guys who are very strict on the top 5 aspects they are looking at during that season, that the game suffers is neither here or there.

Profound piece and comments. More work needed in recruitment offereing lucrative alternative career paths. Money well spent. Loved the idea of Marquee Referees, eye opener for some punters. Traiining for commentators? I would love to hear praise for them during and after a game rather than the often misinformed whinging.

Referees are one of those interesting little tell-tales of a sporting structure's actual health. You can mask the quality of players being developed with star imports, a la Chinese Super League papering over their poor domestic player base with super-pricey French players, but there is no such thing as a marquee referee signing. Here a sporting federation lives or dies by their own devices and resources, so if the referee department is weak then its a good sign that something rots within the rest of the body. The ARU desperately needs to address this if they cannot get anyone onto the IRB lists.

but the problem is also how many ex-international front rowers actually know anything about the laws of the game, I'm trhinking of a certain commentator on fox

Nice points. In a similar vein I am of the opinion that until referees start being drawn from the ranks of ex-international front-rowers (okay so that is a little far fetched) the scrum will never be sorted out. It is so obvious to anyone that has played in a front row that referees (and rugby law-makers) don't have a damn clue what is going on in there.

I agree Mania - I meant to add in my previous piece. Referees not only need to know the law - they also need to know how to apply it. Like, how can a referee - in either of the rugby codes - award a penalty try and not yellow card (ten minutes in the bin) al least one offender?

difference between walsh and the rest is walsh actually played rugby and understands the philosiphy and purtiy of competition. he talks way too much but he's an awesome ref....when his ego doesnt get in the way

Without any doubt, Steve Walsh was the best referee at the 2011 RWC - because I have not seen any SupeRugby this year I cannot comment on what has happened in 2012. However, I spent 25 years of my sporting life refereeing in N.Z, South Africa and here in OZ at all levels. College rugby was the best to control - they had not had time to learn any bad habits. I had the best seat in the ground and loved what I was doing. I was originally coached by the best referee to ever grace a rugby field - John Pring. After he coached me to a 100% success in the theory of the Law I will never forget his next instruction: "Now put your law book in your kit bag and go and learn about what the players are trying to achieve." That is Steve Walsh to a tee. The players know what to expect from him because he knows how to apply the laws under his command - especially The Advantage Law. If more referees knew the correct application of that Law our rugby would be so much better.