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There’s no way SANZAR can validate fining James Horwill $2,500 for dropping the bucket on referee Steve Walsh, and TMO Steve Leszczynski, in a after-match television interview on May 17 at Suncorp.
Nor can the judicial body magnify the mistake by forcing Horwill to apologise to both officials.
Horwill was right on the money when he said “once again we were robbed by a stupid referee decision”.
Walsh’s decision was made after Leszczynski decided he would do a bit of showboating by bringing a scuffle between Rebels skipper Scott Higginbotham, and Reds forward Ed O’Donoghue, to Walsh’s attention.
In the TMO’s mind, O’Donoghue was eye-gouging Higginbotham.
Absolute garbage, it was crystal clear O’Donoghue’s hand was flat on Higginbotham’s face in real time, and did not necessitate fans having to sit through the umpteen unnecessary replays.
There was never a hint of an eye-gouge, yet Leszczynski suggested a red card to Walsh, and a penalty to the Rebels with the score locked at 27-all at the 78th minute.
Jason Woodward landed the penalty for the Rebels to chalk up their first ever win over the Reds.
A couple of minutes later and Horwill was in front of the Fox cameras with steam pouring out his ears.
He was angry and had every right to be, so were the Reds supporters, and so was every fair-minded rugby fan.
It was a diabolical decision by a referee who is far better than that to be sucked into a showboating TMO’s wacky whim.
There’s another yet unmentioned side issue to this ridiculous case – Higginbotham.
Why didn’t he come forward to say there was no eye-gouging, he knew better than anyone?
But no, he just gave the ball to Woodward to create history and grab competition points he didn’t deserve.
But Higginbotham was found out when the judiciary ruled O’Donoghue didn’t have a case to answer, and expunged the red card from his CV.
A major slap in the face to Walsh, Leszczynski, and Higginbotham, yet Horwill was fined and forced to apologise after the sensible and correct decision had been handed down.
It’s Walsh, Leszczynski, and Higginbotham who should be apologising to Horwill, the Reds, and their fans.
Like many rugby-lovers, I’m tired of referees being self-appointed number one on the paddock, and not 31.
I’m tired of the number of mistakes that still occur even when there are four sets of eyes watching every move – the ref, two touchies, and the TMO.
The only reason why referees are a protected species, is because most are incompetent.
When Steve Walsh, consistently one of the very best, can make a howler like Suncorp, there’s every reason for concern.
Refs, touchies, and TMOs should be treated just like players. If they are out of form, they get dropped just like players are.
So stop protecting referees SANZAR, train them better, or find someone who can. Refs are important to the game, and deserve to be respected. When they earn it.