After another round of NRL and yet another ‘outrage’ over the referees and bunkers, is it time to get smart and admit that constantly blaming our officials is a dumb idea?
2016 was to be the end of NRL refereeing controversies. The new CEO spent an enormous amount of money setting up the much vaunted bunker and we were promised better, faster and clearer decisions.
But even with all this time, effort and money – plus the threat of draconian fines for any coach or player who dares criticise the on-field decision maker – we are suffering through yet another year of weekly decision ‘fiascos’. There is a conga line of aggrieved coaches whining and moaning about the way their team has been robbed by the whistle-blowers.
They are right, of course, the referees and bunker team are getting decisions wrong, and these errors are affecting the outcome of some games. They also need to grow up.
An old military adage is that you should look at your problem and ask, is there anything I can do about this? If there is, then it’s not your problem, it’s your job. And if you can’t do anything about it, stop treating it like a problem, it is your situation, accept it and do your job.
What of our NRL officials making mistakes, is there anything we can do about this that hasn’t already been done? Full time officials, two referees, video referee, bunkers and so forth, all designed to reduce the errors that are still occurring.
That errors are still occurring is not because there is a failure of effort, lack of money, corrupt or incompetent officials, it is because any sport being judged by a person involves judgement calls at some point.
This is something every single sport in the world has to some degree. Part of this, is that sometimes the decision will go your way, and sometimes it will not.
Don’t get me wrong, if a coach wants to criticise the referee and offer a suggestion that will help, I’m all ears, but having a moan and saying nothing more then, “They need to get it right” shows a depressing lack of maturity.
They may as well get upset at weekend rain, crowds during Christmas shopping or having to work on a Monday.
What about behind closed doors though? In the dressing room with no one listening but 17 devastated players who have seen a game slip through their fingers after the referee made a contentious call. Is that the time to tell the team it wasn’t their fault?
Flashback to October 2010. My team, Wests just need to lie on the ball for 20 seconds to get a week off and easy home prelim final. Then, the desperate Sydney Roosters scrum plough into the Tigers forwards before the ball is even fed.
Frank-Paul Nu’uausala dives on the ball and referee Shayne Hayne screams to play on. Like a nightmare, Anasta kicks an incredible field goal and they go onto win in golden point. The Roosters would go on to make the grand final.
Surely this was all Hayne’s fault. How could he allow pushing in a scrum before the ball was even fed? Should Tim Sheens tell his players that they lost the game because the referee knew his intervention in the final seconds of a final would be whined about, dissected, analysed and criticised so ignored a dodgy scrum?
Or should he remind them that they had had nearly two hours to win that football game. They had close to 60 occasions to score points and in return, had to stop the opposition 60 times from doing the same.
Should he remind them of the try scored in the first half which blew the game right open and was then immediately called back because Benji Marshall punched Mitchell Pearce. Yes, that specific tackle to throw your first punch after seven years of first grade.
Jack Gibson put it more succinctly, when he brushed off a reporter questioning a refereeing decision with the simple fact that his team had more than enough opportunities to win the game. If they had to rely on a single decision by the ref to get the victory, they should have done better the other 79 minutes of play.
The smart coach can turn their team of players into a team of adults who own their game. If they win, it was because they earned it, not a refereeing decision going their way. And of course, if they lose, the only people who could have prevented it, are themselves, the players with 80 minutes to get the job done.
How enormously liberating to know that you are in charge of your destiny, no one else.
NRL players should aspire to be more like Serena Williams who has never been beaten in her entire career. Oh sure, she has ‘lost’ heaps of times, but never been beaten.
After a loss, she invariably blames the outcome of her own performance, not doing the best she could, paying the scantest regard to her opponent.
This is not selfishness, or self-absorption, this is the world’s greatest female tennis player showing that every time she goes on the court, she decides the winner, not her opponent, and certainly not the referee.
This demeanour is why her most embarrassing moment as an adult, the US Open outburst at the line judge who foot faulted was so shocking. Here was the unflappable, imperial Serena Williams, behaving like so many lesser lights, moaning at the officials and acting like her destiny was in the hands of some line judge.
It is time to move on, the referee and bunker will do their very best but mistakes are going to be made. Having a sook about this will not change it. Move on and let the players believe the fate of the game is in their hands.
celtic bandaid
Guest
Agree 100%. Graeme Hughes pointed this out on 2SM 5 years ago. Ruck penalties are so subjective and allow teams (eg Cronulla last week against Parra), a chance to get a leg up to then win a game. Whats annoying is those same issues aren't not deemed serious enough to be penalties in the last 20 minutes if its close. The problem with refs is consistency week in week out The other main problem, is what Channel 9 want ( its bitten them in the bum with SOO3 where ratings will plunge).This year its quite obvious the Cronulla 50 year anniversary story is going to be a big one and they have been getting some convenient calls last 2 weeks. Interesting to see how they go tomorrow against Penrith.
McNaulty
Guest
The problem is the ruck is very difficult to referee, the ruck penalty decisions are very arbitrary and most crucially the punishment for a penalty is too harsh. Rather than the kick for touch after a penalty which just gifts territory to the penalty recipient (which to me goes against the spirit of the game), the recipient of the penalty should just get a restart to the set, start with a play the ball and the initial tackle should be the zero tackle during which an advantage is played that if the team makes an error it is just tackle one where the error is made. This would promote an attacking start to the set and bold play whilst at the same time providing the penalised team with an opportunity to minimise the damage.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Haha maybe. Of course it's not surprising - I would think less of Robbo if he did. Even ignoring the roosters v dogs game on the weekend, every losing coach comes out and mentions some little incident. It really is tiring. I blow up about refs at times - who doesn't - but over the last couple of years I've pulled right back. It's pointless and comes off as being a bad sport. I can't recall blaming a ref for a loss this season - even when the Kasiano pass was called forward by the video ref against Parra I kept it together. I think when coaches do it, it provides their players with excuses. Ok, the roosters might have been unlucky with that call - personally I think it was a mountain out of a molehill - but is that why they lost? They bombed tries, defended terribly on the edges at times, got dominated in the middle of the field for the middle 50 minutes and blew a 12-0 lead. I would have thought that would be more of a concern for Robinson than whether Lichaa 'touched' Guerra's hand.
pete bloor
Guest
Can the ref's also get up to rubbish the players and coach?
pete bloor
Guest
Is it really that surprising he didn't critise his own players in the media? I think this may be a little blue and white sensitivity here Barry, I remember someone on here being up in arms at the refereeing in another match where the dogs didn't get the lollies
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Thanks Cuge! Gibbo retired when I was 8 years old so my knowledge of him is limited to this awesome book. http://www.dansnrlcollectables.com/contents/en-us/p21258_Played_Strong,_done_fine,_The_Jack_Gibson_Collection,_1988.html Fun fact, when my kids are being dills in class I make them sit in the corner and copy out some of Gibbos quotes!
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Love it! Remember Bill Harrigan, people knew he was arrogant but everyone just got on with playing because they also knew 1. He was very good 2. He was doing the best that he could and most importantly 3. There was no point complaining about him, because he was still very good and doing the best he could. Tim Gore put in best a few months ago, the moment they dropped him after he binned 4 players who kept professionally fouling was the start of the whole refereeing fiasco in League. Smart coaches (and most of them are smart) worked out that they could pressure the ref and get a result they desired.
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Hi Rex. No not at all! You can complain about the ref all you want! I'm just suggesting that it doesn't make any difference. Also, a winning attitude for many champion players is to (arrogantly?) assume they control the game, not their opponent and certainly not the ref. A team with that attitude runs on the field every week knowing in every fibre of their body that they are in charge of the result, not plagued with a nagging doubt that the refs are going to rob them.
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Thanks Zius!
Mark Young
Roar Guru
It was the one that got away. If we got lucky in 2005 (which a lot of killjoys insist) then the 2010 and 2011 Tigers let one go. I had forgotten that tackle at the end of the Dragons game. Benji is lining up for a penalty kick to take the lead when the ref calls no penalty. Sigh. Great game though, two damn good teams went hammer and tongs.
Cugel
Roar Rookie
Heh, you really got your point across - as evidenced by a parade of ref blaming. I had a guffaw at the mention of Jack Gibson, that guy was the Olympus Mons of crying about the ref.
GregB
Guest
Ive got add my bit about this article, it's true that we shouldn't blame the ref but in all fairness the NRL must shoulder the blame here as they have elevated the refs to be the best trained, the best informed and most technically supported that have ever existed. The problem is the NRL public expect better decisions from those on the field and from the bunker. It's tragically obvious that two referees, two linesmen and the supporting bunker still get it horribly wrong without fail every week, much to the anger of ALL club supporters. The fix is simple - go back to one ref! It worked since the game began and will still work into the future. Make the linesmen actually be there for a reason like they used to, calling forward passes and catching attacking or defending players at fault - isn't that what they're paid for? Finally, get the screen replays played at REAL TIME speed only, as that is what the naked eye saw originally and let the decision stand. Any one can dismantle a decision given different angles and frame by frame slow mo but the reality is the ref and the public saw it in real time and a decision MUST be made based on the moment as it happened. How many games of the past would be overturned today if they were analysed as they are today. The bunker only creates further frustration and controversy - please NRL simplify our game don't turn it into Dumby Union where penalties and bad decisions control the outcome.
The Barry
Roar Guru
It's getting tiring. We all know there's issues with the officiating of the game. I think there's a massive disconnect between the rules and the refs interpretations and also between the match review committee and the judiciary. It all needs an overhaul, but it's a massive piece of work. Refs have never been perfect. They're trying to watch multiple things at once, under duress and there's always multiple possibilities of what could have happened. But every week we have coaches whining about a decision that went against them in the third minute of a game. In the meantime their team has dropped the ball, thrown bad passes, given away cheap penalties, milked penalties, missed tackles and made bad decisions. But no, it all comes down to one refs call...
dayer
Guest
Gross misconduct.
Ziusudra
Guest
Absolutely agree with this article. Refs are human and make mistakes, even with HD video backup. However, many so-called errors are simply 50-50 calls and one team has to come off worse. The actual wrong calls are rare (I'd hazard <1 per game) and these are always less than the errors made by players and coaches of the losing team. I understand the frustration of players and fans on the receiving end of a "wrong call" (more likely a close call that went the other way). However, in recent years, one has the suspicion that certain coaches, players and journalists are attempting to play the refs with their outcries over injustices (perceived or real). The obsession with penalty counts is a symptom of this. If the penalty count is heavily against you, then you should infringe less frequently! Play up! And play the ball!
Benedict Arnold
Guest
Totally agree longarm, appalling performance from the match review committee is one of the biggest farces this year - and probably a lot of previous years as well. The MRC makes the bunker/refs look like the little darlings of rugby league. Gallen should have copped suspension but he would have missed out on the NSW fairytale for origin 3. Unfortunately many of will look back at gallen as the guy who got away with murder on the field; horse collars, elbows to the face and single handedly banning the biff from rugby league. Not entirely sure what the MRC's message is to the parents of kids that play the game at grassroots level. I guess the message is they condone this sort of stuff.
Hard Yards
Roar Rookie
Take a bit to get JWH on the turf
Bruce
Guest
I don't blame the refs per se but the lawmakers. A wrong decision these days (say a penalty against the ball carrier) means a kick for touch and 6 tackles which more often than not lead to a try (eg 40% of penalties lead to tries for the raiders). This penalty for minor indiscretions (which are often let go at other times) can change a game.- soccer and a lesser extent RU are the only other games with such draconian penalties. Stripping the ball is another example is where the ref has to guess who was responsible and he is often obscured. Bizarre for a ref to carry the burden.
Longarm
Guest
Re-read it mate
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Thanks Barry!!!