Video refs leave NRL coaches stumped

I think the referees problem is their administration set up. They don't seem to be allowed, or don't have any empathy and understanding of the game and players. The best referee I ever saw was in NZ club rugby in the Waikato where he told a player he would be sent off if he got punched one more time.

I pondered both those decisions as well. Thurston didn't even look like he was milking it, he was looking past Lewis to where the ball was going, and clean ran into him. The goal line one was really baffling. What did they want QLD to do? Allow him to surge over the line even after being called held?

In the SOO3 why did Hayne not go to the video ref when Thurston was knocked over by Lewis in the first NSW try after the earlier incorrect penalty when Bird didn't yield to the Hold call and lost the ball in scoring a "try" (I believe a legitimate strip but Bird should have played the ball at least rather than a penalty). Every weekend refs go to the video after players run behind teammates. No matter how many mistakes are made the same refs are given games - eg SOO...

True,and its this more than anything else leading to the dismal attendances and blasé attitudes towards it.When commentators of +50 years experience with the game ask each other for rule clarification during the running or exclaim repeated frustrated indignation at decisions,when even the great one Bennett gets dragged into damming decisions,you can get an idea into the feelings of your average Freddie Football Fan.Cant see anything remotely as important that needs fixing than this

Getting a bit off track guys. Some of the decisions are so bad it is mind bggling, the worst being Whare's (try). His hand had to have been touching the ground, you can't bend your fingers naturally that way. The next bad one was disallowing Simon Mannerings try for the Warriors. I could not see conclusive proof (the test) to disallow the try. If you had not seen the decisions and you had to choose which one would be awarded the outcome would reverse. i.e. Mannering yes, Whare no. The Warriors especially have been at the end of constant refereeing howlers to the point where good refereeing is a surprise. It is affecting their players, Shaun Johnson asking 'blind as a Badger' why he needed a touchies call for a knock on. Mannering was getting frustrated as well. All teams cop it to an extent so I am not saying it is a conspiracy. Often we see conspiracies where the answer is incompetence. However, in a professional game it is reasonable to expect professional officiating. It is past the' mistakes happen' stage

Mate you are 100% correct how bout t-rex? Bench warming log turned most damaging ball runner in the game! In 2011 anyway! Nobody wanted cherry his manager asked Brisbane and they said no so manly bought him to be dogkinsons understudy! Foran was picked up as a teenager unwanted and unheard of.. the thing about manly is we ooze Greatness! The only team to win a premiership in every decade! Yes look it up oikee lol! Like Melbourne manly have a knack of turning nobody's into regular first graders and beyond! Premierships! Origins! Representing there countries! Foran was the captain for nz and should be from now until.he retires! Easily the best 5/8 in the game manly to win in 2013 and oikee to burn and burn well

The broncos couldn't win a premiership with lockyer! They will NEVER win a premiership without him! Yea manly are a rabble.Bahaha sitting pretty in 4th and hitting the right form at the right time! Oikee didn't manly kick the broncos out of the finals the last couple of years??? Your team is full of origin players and still your rabble of a team lacks anything.. did u see manly towel up the titans? Great footy pure excitement! Ps thanks for berryman

I had Whare 1st try scorer @$13. Yeah baby and even I thought no try. Ah well lol :)

Oh dear oikee don't you get embarrassed writing the same rubbish everyday? The world isn't out to get Brisbane. Clearly having 4 x current Origin players isn't enough for you. But before Talbot died the Broncos could afford 10 or more current Origin stars. So I can see how the fall from grace is affecting you.

Oikee as usual you make claims without considering the reasons they occurred. Only one of those players you mentioned was an International before coming to Manly...only one Lyon. And only one other, Kite, had first grade experience. The rest were either kids or almost unknowns or local juniors.The problem with Brisbane with all its available player wealth is that they no longer know how to effectively develop players like Manly do. Brisbane's greatness came from inheriting at the start champion test players like Lewis, Dowling, Meninga, Carney, Miles the pinching Talos. It was only with that strength that they then could develop Lockyer, the Walters bros, Langer etc. But in recent years despite the huge player resource they have, they have not been able to develop the kids they've got. Manly had players like Cherry-Evans, Foran, the Stewart brothers, Wolfman, Taufua, Buhrer, Matai,, Ballin, King, Watmough etc as unknown teenagers with talent that Manly then developed. Sure many came from other locations, but it was Manly who trained them and prepared them for first grade football. None were first graders before they came to Manly And might I add every other team grabs the cream of players from wherever they can. Manly have just been more successful than most at developing them. We've lost just as many to other clubs as we've gained. So stop blaming Manly for the failure of your Brisbane club to pick the righ players and coach them effectively. That's Brisbane problem not Manly's and I'm also sick of Manly being attacked because of the failure of other clubs, many much wealthier and with a huge player resource, to make good.

Manly are a woeful rabble without Lyons and Cherry_Evans and your kiwis.. You have Foran, Kiwi half, Cherry- Evans Origin along with Watmough Stewarts bot Origin players, and Kite ex-Kangaroo, and Ballin Origin hooker and Matai Kiwi international and Williams a ex-Kangaroo and all you ever do is bring in a winger once you send all your second hand players to England. Dont start your BS here. Nobody is buying what NSW had to sell, nobody is buying what your trying to sell. Brisbane has Gillet and Parker who only just made Origin, Hodges is on his last leg and Faiday is our only true full strenght player. Our halves are hopeless, we have Mcullock at nine and Corey Norman who is leaving and a kid at Fullback. Why do you continue to lie about Brisbane, who are little less than a park foorball side, while Manly continues to Cherrypick the best players from NSW, Qld and NZ. The Roosters also find any plyuers they can from other areas. I and Queenslanders are fed up with Manly and the NRL crap. Give us our superstars back Sydney, your killing Queensland rugby league who have 1 team in Brisbane trying to compete against 3 major footy codes.

The Cowboys and Broncos are no chance of making the finals cause they are both a woeful rabble. On paper both teams should be in the mix but they are a disorganised mess (how many Origin stars do they both need before actually performing on the field?) Stop blaming the refs oikee. Titans may struggle to make it as well. Again nothing to do with the refs. Storm, Newcastle, Warriors and Raiders are all looking good. At present the Rabbitohs and Roosters are the 2 best teams in the comp. Their playing rosters are superb and they have coaches instilling a professionalism in both outfits. Again nothing to do with the refs. The Roosters are the most penalised team in the comp.

Lets not talk about them, we can all see that Anderson has failed, the refs are more grey than ever. Until our code brings in a Captains call, challenge and get's on with becoming a true professional comp, we will continue to allow refs to destroy the fabric and integrity of our code. The refereeing in Sydney has been nothing but diabolical this year. Outside Sydney teams might as well take early holidays, because they have no chance, no chance of getting anywhere near the final. They already have planned a Roosters Souths final. Let us see if i am right.

Video evidence is the only way to go because you need a system that offers as accurate a picture of what is happening on the field as the TV audience has. Without it, the game would become a farce because on field referees and umpires have no way to be as competent as a TV audience with slow motion, several perspectives, zoom in lenses, repeat showings etc. The problem is not the system, its the people who are interpreting the information. That is where problems lie and that is where better training is required. Leave the video system alone. Its vastly better than the alternative Fix the perspective of the refs watching the evidence.

Video refs and the ref's boss Anderson should have to publicly justify all contentious calls. Surely with gambling being so intrusive now and with the potential for scandal, the NRL must justify to the betting public why these decisions are being made. Failure to do so robs the game of credibility and creates a very suspicious atmosphere. Blind Freddy could see that the 1st Penrith try against Newcastle should have been disallowed and the opposite applies for the Parramatta try against Canberra. Players have been investigated for match fixing, how about the refs?