NRL drops referees involved in Cowboys injury clanger

It would have been nice if Atkins and Badger made a phone call after the match to see if he was ok. They might have , I don't know. These current crop of referees seem to be devoid of personality. Annesly will come out and make all sorts of apologies. Greenberg was their he saw it. He should get on the front foot and make some comment or was he just their to take the limelight for Smith's record.

Message couldn't be any clearer for the refs; follow protocol get dropped. How about looking at the protocols and whether there are any failings there? Was there a failure in communications from the touchies to the refs? Was there a failure of communication between the trainers and the touchies?

They should’ve all been dropped. One problem the NRL couldn’t face is the factor the offical closest to the incident once play moved on was one of their marquee females. No way they could drop her. Before crucifying her though I’d like to hear whether or not she communicated to the referees in the middle. If she requested play be stopped then she is absolved. If she did and the referees in the centre ignored her they should never referee another NRL match.The level of incompetence of all officials was staggering. You have officials in the box, two referees and two touch judges they left one severely injured player laying on the ground, another who was legitimately injured with him leaving nqld with an 11 man defensive line. The actions of the referees impacted the game unfairly not to mention the fact that they left a seriously injured player lying on the ground

Yeah, calling this match the worst officiated game ever is a massive stretch. Kinda implies a level of competence from the refs that would seem to belie the litany of officiating errors we deem unacceptable.

Why the refs? If the process now requires the message to get relayed via the touchies but Atkins says he didn't receive that message, surely the touchy is at fault. They are mic's up to all officiators so may be the message did come through and Badger/Atkins didn't acknowledge what everyone else heard?

Why? Smith not-a-knock on and this? This was very poor but Smith's was a call based on what they thought they saw from their angle and you could nearly forgive them as at first sight, most punters would've thought the same. As a neutral, there were a few dubious calls go both ways but a long way from the worst game ever. Aside from this event, I don't think the Coaches mentioned anything more did they? You're not getting a little ancy that Melbourne are showing signs of being human are you?

In my business life, if ever I stuff up to that extent then I apologise to anyone affected. I expect no more of people who operate in the public arena.

as long as we fans hold ourselves to similar high standards I'm good with that.

A direct self initiated apology would be more sincere and it should go to those two players first and then every other player that took to that field especially Munster who was on the receiving end of some nasty tackles, both coaches and their staff and the Melbourne and Cowboys clubs. Then if they had any guts, they would publish a written apology to all the fans of those two clubs who paid good money to watch them stuff up.

Not stopping this game for this double injury was a very bad mistake by the officials but it wasn't their only mistake. The game was littered with officiating mistakes from the first whistle and was probably the worst game I have ever watched from that point of view. The video of that game should be kept in the NRL archives and used as a training video for future refs. How not to referee a match.

Cecchin has matured, I agree. I have met both Checchin and Atkins. Chechin is far more relaxed, can have a joke. Atkins... not so much.

I didn't say that.

Why public? Wouldn't a direct apology be more sincere.

I think Cechin has matured a bit. He refereed at last year's Koori carnival and had a good rapport on and off the field. Even Klein had a good match last weekend. Maybe the Friday night fiasco sent a message.

What should happen is the 2 referees involved should be directed to make public apologies to both the club and the players for the stuff up. Standing the referees down is not good enough. It should have been done already.

Atkins is a grub

I agree. He’s a Cecchin clone that goes out of his way to manipulate a close game and hates the Cowboys.

the 'hilarious scorpion' playing on the left is genuinely very very funny..great tackle.

What about the touchies? If we’re punishing the on-field refs, surely the touchies are even more liable?

Atkins reminds me of Cecchin when he was early in his career. Whether it is attitude or what, I am not sure, but he seems to referee angry. He needs to dial it down a bit and realise it is not about him, it is about the players.