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Archer’s sacking doesn't fix the main problem

Roar Rookie
15th November, 2018
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Roar Rookie
15th November, 2018
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It has been reported that Director of Refereeing Tony Archer has been stood down from his position.


This is off the back of numerous controversies throughout the 2018 NRL season and beyond.


Let’s take a step back and have a look at the last few years of refereeing in the NRL. 


Archer himself officiated 319 NRL games, 13 State of Origin Clashes and nine international matches.


He was appointed the head of the referees in 2014 after Daniel Anderson’s one-year appearance.


Let’s also remember, Anderson replaced Bill Harrigan and Stuart Raper, who replaced long-standing referee boss Robert Finch.


Now, the NRL have sacked five-referee coaches in less than eight years. That’s almost as bad as some of the NRL clubs.


Do you think the standard of refereeing has improved since this merry-go-round started?

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The one thing that hasn’t changed is the same people making these blatant errors, the referees themselves, are still refereeing!


Why hasn’t there been a major change in the ranks of referees?


I get the idea we need to keep the experience on the field but the new referees aren’t coming straight off the street.


A lot of them have been officiating for decades at the state level.


So, why aren’t we letting these experienced individuals move up into first grade, especially if the current crew aren’t performing?


Do we really need ten officials with 200 games of experience each to be refereeing at a top level if they are not performing?


It feels like to me, they want regular faces in the game over getting the decisions right.

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Case in point: Clayton Sharpe. Sharpe officiated 201 Intrust Super Cup games and was widely praised for his 2012 grand final performance for having only blown two penalties the whole game.


Now, this wasn’t because he threw the rule book out the window.
 This was because he had control, patience and the ability to read the game.


So, why wasn’t he moved up to the next level? His age.


Apparently, being in your early 30s is too old to move you up to the NRL.


The reason for this was if they offered him a full-time contract they would likely only get a couple of years out of him.

Am I the only one that thinks this is ridiculous?
 Shouldn’t our focus be on decision making and not your age?


My next point is there has been a slow decline in recent years of the quality of football we are seeing.


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Little infringements being let go because we want the game to flow, only for coaches to exploit them – and rightly so.


Coaches are in the business of winning and will do at whatever cost.


The 2018 ‘crackdown’ should never have happened if the referees were officiating correctly from the start of his reign.


They were simply trying to fix a problem he had created.
 So, if coaches are in the business of winning at whatever cost, why can’t referees be appointed on the basis of decision making?


Especially, if the minimum wage for a referee is $150k per year.

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