Play the whistle. It’s a mantra that’s drilled into our boys and girls at sporting fields across the country, from sun up to sun down, every weekend. A mantra that contains more sporting wisdom than it’s given credit for.
While the idea of playing the whistle is still followed (for the most part) by NRL players, NRL coaches and commentators alike are guilty of trying to replay the whistle – to dissect and criticise, long after the pads have come off the goal posts.
The NRL community is living in a bubble of its own design, in which everyone believes they are entitled to perfection from the game’s officials. At what point in our history did we stop viewing our referees as an integral part of the fabric of our game, and start viewing them as robots with whistles? How is it that we’ve come to expect absolute perfection from our officials, but would probably be satisfied if our team produced a completion rate of just 85 per cent?
No other professional sport in the country subjects their match officials to the level of scrutiny that the NRL referees face. No other sport would allow their officials to be derided in the same manner as ours.
Imagine if your job performance was filmed, broadcast on national TV, and every perceived error critiqued by anyone with a keyboard, and then you’re expected come back for more next week. That’s the reality facing our referees, who are required to make split-second decisions under tremendous pressure.
There’s been much talk in recent times of referee bias – the notion that referees have pre-conceived ideas about who the stronger team is, and adjudicate in favour of that team. Let’s be fair dinkum for a minute, no referee sets out to make poor decisions, or to deliberately favour one team over another. Yet there’s enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that perhaps such bias exists. How can this be?
Many years ago I met Bill Harrigan, who was the leading referee at the time. He was asked why he didn’t rely on the video referee as much as his counterparts. His response was: “If it looks like a pig, it’s probably a pig”. The inference, that if it looks like a knock on, it probably was a knock on (and so on).
But in an age where we expect every decision to be 100 per cent correct on each and every occasion, the referees no longer trust their own eyes. We’ve backed the referees into a corner, to the point where they no longer feel empowered to call it as they see it.
The referee now has so many things to think about, and so much pressure facing them, that they’re looking for things that just aren’t there. These are what I refer to as a ‘ghost call’ – a decision based on something they thought they might have seen. And make no mistake, our referees are spooked.
Next time you’re at an NRL game, watch the referee. If you watch him for long enough you can note the exact moment he second guesses himself. The ball hits the deck, the referee puts the whistle up to his mouth, and then puts it straight back down again. He thought he saw a pig, but talked himself out of it.
When a referee doesn’t have the confidence to back himself, and talks himself out of what he saw, he’s open to bias. Not intentionally, but subconsciously, he makes the decision that he believes will have the least impact on the outcome of the match. He knows something’s happened, and he needs to make a decision, but he just doesn’t trust himself. Self-preservation determines that if the decision goes the way of the favourite, then he is less likely to be blamed for the outcome.
Of course, this is only a theory, but if referee bias is real, then it’s a mess of our own making.
Rewind 20 years. No bunker. One referee. That referee made mistakes, no doubt about it. But we didn’t obsess over it. We just got on with it. ‘Swings and roundabouts,’ we would say. The game was simple. Decisions were made, and the game moved on.
Let’s give the referees some breathing room, allow them to back themselves and not crucify them when they get it wrong. Let’s take a step back and appreciate the overwhelming majority of decisions that our referees actually do get right.
And for heaven’s sake, just play the damn whistle.
Jason Paris
Guest
The point that everyone misses when talking about referee is that they're consistently inconsistentl And if you want to talk about the worst bias in refereeing watch any Gold Coast Titans game and you will see they never ever get the rub of the green from the refs. The shocking late calls in the tackle count pretty much as the referee determining who's going to win the game and I find it a disgrace and it's ruining the game hard enough to beat any NRL team but if you're also playing against the refs you've got no chance
lets get it right
Guest
Great piece on the referees and the issues they face. I've been involved with rugby league for 25 years as a coach and manager at the junior level and a referee at the grass roots level refereeing juniors through to our local seniors. I have to admit that I struggle to watch the NRL for all the points you make in the article. Plus the basics of the game have and are deteriorating. Just look at the play the ball in any NRL televised game, disgraceful ! Our so called professionals can't even get the basics of the game right by playing the ball with there foot. But no we bend the rules by saying "attempt". This puts in a grey area and then we flog the ref for not penalising it. Lets get the professional coaches of the clubs to train the professional players to do the right thing. Fix problems at the source, poor attention to the basics of the game.
Whistleblow
Guest
Fair dinkum mate. Referees: Its their job. If they cant figure out which way is forward or if dropping the ball before putting it down then who can? If i screw up in my job i dont work very long....... nrl sponsored by sportsbet needs to stop. No way will my boys be partaking in that silliness. Anything but nrl. Fair dinkum.
steven bern
Guest
come on 4 officials on the field and still miss a last pass that went 4 metres forward in the broncos manly match really know how to kill the game was going to watch a match live but i think i will just stay home and watch rugby union in stead was a rugby league fan for life but not no more feel very sorry for the game
Yoda
Guest
But you can't contest for the ball,that's where the term ruck as in rucking for the ball comes from,nothing to do with tackling the player champ.
Waz Jensen
Guest
Yep Souths were robbed. Two missed attempts at goal and one at field goal, 73% completion rate and 11 errors (http://live.nrlstats.com/matches/nrl/match44325.html) but hey it's the refs fault right? And this is why we have people queuing up to referee at any level of most sports.
Joel Eggins
Roar Rookie
Fair point, although I was mainly referring to scrutiny from media and coaches. I think the NRL would open up about on field errors a bit more if there was less open slather ref bashing. In the current 'us vs them' environment, referees are forced to bunker down (no pun intended) to protect themselves from criticism due to the sheer volume of it. If everyone just calmed down a bit, I'm certain we could have something like this in the NRL.
Joel Eggins
Roar Rookie
Appreciate the feedback mate. Bring back in goal touchies hey!
Joel Eggins
Roar Rookie
This isn't a conspiracy theory. It's pretty much the exact opposite, offering a possible cause to the perceived problem of referee bias (which is the actual conspiracy theory)
Stu
Guest
Ruck covers the tackle and play the ball champ.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I like that idea but I think offsides and holding down should be the offences that carry the biggest penalty! Imagine how far teams would push it if the penalties for those offences were reduced. I think some of the 'accidental' penalties should have the reduced penalty. Say accidental offside or a player being 30cm offside chasing a kick, etc. They're either mistakes or slightly poor execution. The opposition doesn't deserve 30 metres and six tackles.
Chris Morrison
Guest
The expectations on referees increased with the amount of technology we have available and with the amount of referees on the field. Go back to one referee. Get the microphones out of their ears and let them make a decision. Captains challenge in (one unsuccessful challenge per half per team) that's the only time we will ever see the bunker referred to. A win win for everyone. Referees can back themselves to make the call. They are scrutinised less due to less replays. The fans don't have to wait 10 mins for the wrong decision to be handed down from the bunker and captains/teams can get on with the game using the challenge as they see fit rather than 5 or 6 players rushing up to the referee trying to tell him if it was a try or not.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Are you talking to me?
Yoda
Guest
Ruck?????dont you mean play the ball
Nicholas Nakos
Roar Guru
Great article Joel. I have to say I disagree with your point about officials not being scrutinised in other codes as they are in the NRL. Match officials in the NBA are subject to a post-match last two minute report which details errors made- and these are only in the last two minutes of games. Imagine if they published a full game report.. I do agree with your idea around referees second guessing themselves and not calling what they see. A complete bug bear of mine is the whole 'it was called a try on the field, so we will go with that', when the referee shows zero confidence in actually knowing if there was a try or a no try. In this case, I think we are best to revert to the lesser decision of no try. If the ref doesn't actually see the ball grounded, but assumes it is, then he should say no try. This doesn't happen though and we can see in all the rounds this season the refs have employed some guesswork when it comes to this.
Michael Keeffe
Roar Guru
In five games at Suncorp this year the Broncos have won 2 penalty counts and lost three.
Michael Keeffe
Roar Guru
In 5 games at Suncorp this year the Broncos have won two penalty counts and lost three.
McNaulty
Guest
Yep. Or let them kick for touch but don't restart the tackle count. The first few tackles in a set are usually pretty boring and predictable anyway - why redo them?
Britexit
Guest
The 3 Free to air games last weekend were 2 golden point and scores tied at 77min - what more do you want??? RL games can turn on a refs decision - 30 metres from a penalty kick and six tackles from a disputed stripped ball ruling can take you from one end of the field to the other to change a game. Hence 40% of penalties end in tries. The Warriors had lots of penalties against them but managed to stay in touch with Melbourne for example and any penalties the Warriors got for were on first tackle within 40 metres of Storms goal lines. The crucial penalties (which are a favourite in SOO) are the penalty for offside on the 3rd tackle for the team coming out from their own 20 and who are trailing on the scoreboard.
Steve
Guest
I think this is a really good point. Perhaps penalties for holding down or offside should be differential penalties? A set of 6, but no touch finders or kicks for goals.