What do touch judges actually do?

The constant calls of corruption and rigging of refereeing by scorned fans is immature and a cliche.

NRL touch judge! Sounds like a career path for out of work ex-Dragons coach Steve Price!

Do they have regular eyesite tests?

Ref ( Mainly S. Hayne ) to Touchie "What do you reckon on that" Touchie to Ref " Dead set try there" Ref to Touchie "Ok , video decision it is" ! If the Ref's can't decide on try from 1 meter away it doesn't matter how many Refs or Touchies are on the field . Get the Refs to actually make a decision and that's half the problem solved. And yes I am aware that this story is directed at the touchies BUT the ref's inability to make a decision is starting to ruin the game .

Johnk +1 for Chuck , except no-one and I repeat NO-One can sway Chuck's decision either way and if they try then the flying fist will silence them ...lmao

No refs. How about the NRL hire Chuck Norris to sit every game in a luxury box and decide upon outcomes in a 'roman empire' fashion by either giving a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down". Chuck can decide on whether a penalty is given or not, a try awarded or whether someone is sent to the sin bin. The crowd can also sway his decision by chanting out their preferences as loud as they can. On a serious note, yes would love to see just one ref, more touchies and more consistency with rulings by the video refs.

+1

I think your argument about refereeing corruption is a bridge too far. I've seen some howlers but I think it's through incompetence rather than anything more sinister.

2013 GF, SOO final 10 mins. It's pretty obvious the game is corrupt and will continue to be until ICAC is called in. Punters do bet on these games and there are independent bodies that should come down hard on the rorters, excuse the pun. Buying the rights doesn't mean you own the product. Do Smith and Greenberg not watch the games?

That last explanation makes as much sense as any. Surely the game isn't rigged that badly is it? Or am I just naive!

I'm not entirely sure that it is always the touchies fault. Numerous times this year when I've attended matches I hear the touchy screaming forward, forward and the ref seems to think it's an opposition player shouting it and doesn't pull up the play. I've also seen them calling not back the ten and the pocket ref doesn't take any notice unless the offending team does it a couple of times in a row in the same set. Conversely I've seen touchies come in to call a knock on when it's obviously a strip and I can see it from 5 rows back opposite side of the park. Would be nice if we could have some quality, consistent reffing with all match officials on the same book when reffing a match. I think the most heinous crime at the moment is constant try reviews. The worst offender at the moment is Cecchin having to review every bloody try. The two games I've attended that he's been officiating were stop start affairs and consequently boring, even when Parra were winning.

I think the nrl orders the on field referees to go upstairs the more often they can so they can show the advertisement and it provide the nrl even more revenue.

Dude you just copied my post but I like the way u think meht

It's hard to see any other situation than they're being told not to intervene whenever possible. The article mentions what most of us who go to games see pretty much every week, an obvious forward pass, the touchie in great position, and nothing happens. We can all see it, it's inconceivable he can't: ergo, they're instructed to keep schtum.

How come Touchies are actually used in the NSW Cup & QRL? Tries happen, and the referee consults his touchy, and a decision is quickly made. Mistakes may happen, but that's footy. Why is the NRL & Holden Cup exempt from how RL is referred almost everywhere else? Sick of half decisions; waiting 5 minutes for some fool in a box slowing the game down making incorrect decisions on super slow-mow replays. I want my RL back.

What DO touchies do? Would they be afraid to make calls on off side and forward passes? How often do you hear "the touchy was right there, he should have seen that…"? It appears that their only purpose is to indicate where the ball went into touch. So many dodgy decisions by the refs could be alleviated by the men with the best view on the ground. Does their inaction come from the referees boss? The owners of the game? Or, like the refs, a fear of upsetting the predetermined outcome of many games? It's obvious they no longer perform the duties they are assigned. As it stands the NRL may as well get rid of them and have the ball boys place the ball where it crosses the touch line.

The poor quality of on-field officials is the stand out problem today. It beggars belief that the NRL hasn't started emergency rectification of it.

I agree. Touchies don't seem to do anything that isn't already bleedingly obvious such as put their flag up when the ball goes into touch and when a goal is kicked. For years I've thought the ref really only looks at the touchies for some sort of historic reasons when awarding a try. Have you noticed that the ref only seeks their opinion when awarding a try, but never when disallowing one? If touch judges they can't "judge when a player is in touch" what the hell are they there for?

There taking there time , what about Mon night rulings after what we saw over the weekend, there bloody getting worse!

Clearly, touchies are told by the nrl what their role is otherwise they would no longer have a job. But their role has become farcical. They are almost always out of position, never adjudicate on a try, never enter the field of play to report foul play, and miss every single forward pass.