Hello Roarers, I trust you are all well. I am not, as we steam towards the 2015 NRL finals. I believe our game is in serious trouble.
So much trouble that I fear this year’s premiership will be decided by the gross incompetence of the referees and their video mates.
If I must mention the match review committee, it’s even worse.
Can we politely pause here for raucous laughter? What a farce these guys are.
The last premiership round gave me way too much to fuel this point of view.
I saw Parramatta’s Semi Radradra score two tries from knock-ons that Blind Freddie would have ruled as such. Video refs? Nah, sweet. He’s a good bloke who is a chance of setting a few try-scoring records.
Bull, I say. He bounced the ball twice and finished with two tries.
I saw the Bulldogs come from the clouds to beat a gritty and gutsy Warriors thanks to a late try by James Graham after his dummy half threw the ball half a metre forward. It might have been one metre.
Nope, no replays. The Doggies were on a roll so they must score here.
That try decided the game. So what? Well, it could have been the grand final – and it could well happen in four weeks’ time.
I saw the Roosters’ five-eighth James Maloney deliberately kick out at a ball-carrying opponent. That’s a trip to me and a mandatory few weeks off.
But no, he plays for the flavour of the month. No way we can suspend this guy.
Give him a Grade 1, he’s not a dirty player. ‘Tsk, tsk, don’t do that again, James old boy, but feel free to play this week against Melbourne.’
I feel if he played for the Sharks, Storm or Bulldogs, he would have been suspended. ‘Well, see ya in the second week of the finals, Jimmy! Do some time for your rash act of stupidity. Everyone else does.’
That was a shocker. Lift your game, James. If you can’t tackle them, so be it; don’t just thrust out your leg.
Tripping/leg tackles are supposed to attract a major penalty. In this case nothing. Why?
And then we have the Manly-Cronulla game at Remondis.
Sea Eagle Justin Horo grabs an intercept, races 50-plus metres and offloads to Tom Trbojevic for the match-deciding try. Horo was way, way offside but the gibbering on-field officials missed that, and once it gets to the film, well, that’s all they can adjudicate on.
I am becoming increasingly dirty about the decisions thrust upon us in these NRL games. Some idiot in the video box may well decide this year’s premiership.
Let us go back to Radradra. If you know football, neither of his brace should have been awarded. He bounced the ball on both occasions.
Good blokes, romance and feel good stuff should not come into it, fellas. He bounced the ball twice trying to score.
The whole refereeing and video refereeing shebang is not up to scratch. It is going to cost a team big time in the weeks ahead.
It seems to be the North Queensland Cowboys at this time every year.
This season, the victim might be your team.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
The problem NRL referees have that referees/umpires don't have in rugby, AFL or football is that in these games, players can compete for the ball throughout the game. If the referee makes a mistake it isn't the end of the world because they can get the ball back next tackle, mark, maull whatever. As an oldie, this is what I miss about the game.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
That is the worst part now. Professional fouls galore from all teams and the bin so rarely used. Last week, Croker makes a break, gets tackled and he's held down until the defence is set, play on. Later, a Parramatta player is held down. Same as with Croker. The difference? The referee blows a penalty and sin bins the Canberra player. Interesting watching the NRC, a Rays player got two yellow cards, the second meant it was a straight send off.Could any NRL ref do this?
steveng
Roar Rookie
He's had enough of the NRL's BS, the English Premier League is where he wants to be, from what I've read. But as far as the refereeing is concerned its like our lifestyle here in Australia, full of bureaucracy and rules and regulations that have become that overloaded year by year and in more ways than before and rugby league is the same. The game is being ruined and over refereed year by year and it is made into a refereeing nightmare that all fans are disliking and its ruining the game.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I'm sick of people defending the worst referees in the world. In the Tigers v Dragons game a video ref couldn't tell who put a ball into touch. He looked at it twice and still came up with the wrong call. There's no way he could have got it wrong. I really think the NRL integrity unit should be looking into that game.
Doc79
Roar Rookie
That makes up half of cam smith's contract! ?
Doc79
Roar Rookie
Forget ref review, let us have the captain's challenge.
Doc79
Roar Rookie
Edrick lee copped a week for same against cows, trips are immediate suspension imo
Doc79
Roar Rookie
Happy to concede penalties, professional fouls, because no ref will use the bin!
The Barry
Roar Guru
Judiciary got it right with the Maloney suspension. It was dumb (like Reynolds) but not at all dangerous How Moa escaped suspension for his high shot on Stewart is beyond me.
paul
Guest
Tim your just dirty that your little darlings of the league souths have got a smack on the ass with gorgeous george and maloney got off .lol you can not help yourself another backdoor story re your hatred of the chooks I luv it champion give yourself a dozen !!
Vhavnal
Roar Rookie
Have you seen Fijians score tries? seriously have you? that is how Fijians score tries, they carry the ball in one hand and is able to slam the ball down...'Expert' my behind, both 'touchdowns' were GOOD..I recommend you watch a bit of 7's rugby, you will learn how to actually score tries without looking like you are putting a baby in the crib
The Prize_Man
Roar Pro
Agree 100% Muzz got the exact same treatment as Reynolds
The Prize_Man
Roar Pro
What a load of rot. J. Reynolds got the same grading for all of his three trips. Loading being the only difference. This culture of ref bashing is a pox on the sport. The refs aren't perfect they never will be.
Muzz
Guest
steven, Why's Glenn Stewart seeking an early release?
steveng
Roar Rookie
Yes, one other thing that I've notice in the last few games is that 'ALL OF A SUDDEN' THE REFS ARE 'USING THE SIN BIN', what do you know, I thought the sin bin was obsolete and redundant and null and void. But what you are saying is very true, when the penalty counts are given early in the game and a team gets up to 20-0 and then the refs try to make it up has happened all year. Its their inconsistencies and their utter attention to some penalties that none of us, the crowd and especially the Ch9 commentators care to notice or explain or know anything about. refereeing in the NRL has become a lottery, lotto and fans do not know what will happen and they have to bite their nails and cross everything so that they get a referee that will either referee fairly or evenly. This is becoming an integral part of the NRL and nothing that we or the coaches (who get fined hundreds of thousands of dollars a year) do about it will stop T. Archer and his cohorts in doing anything or setting a standard so that everybody knows or can read. But Sutton is a shocker and that bloke should never ever referee anything and that includes a pissup in a brewery! The guy is a complete and utter disaster waiting to happen
steveng
Roar Rookie
The refs have been doing it forever and all year, so what's the difference in the finals and grand final?
Roy
Guest
Something tells me that Timmy Prentice hates the Roosters, there's an agenda right there. But Tim is a disgruntled Norths supporter is he not?
Albo
Guest
Spot on Jimmy ! There are always going to be some dubious calls and the fans can generally accept that. Like was it a forward pass or line ball ? Was it a strip or just poor ball security by the carrier ? We can live with those calls as they are subjective decisions that can often go either way depending on refs positioning etc. But when it comes to blatant incompetence like a video ref with 12 views of an incident and getting the call wrong or failing to notify the ref that Horo was a mile offside in the try that meant Cronulla missed a spot in the 4 , or a ref who calls for the video on the first 5 tries scored where no query was likely and then fails to call the video ref in on the 6th try where there was confusion and doubt everywhere in the play ? We can accept human errors but not incompetence in ignoring the resources provided to eliminate the human errors.
Muzz
Guest
Maloney's incident aside. If we were to do a risk assessment and grade all levels of contact in the game, a "trip" would be down the bottom of the list. It's no more dangerous than an ankle tap. The biggest issue being that it's a bad look and goes against the spirit of the game.
bear54
Agree with you 100% Nordburg!!!