Over the State of Origin period, the quality of rugby league certainly takes a back seat.
But over the last two weekends we’ve all been reminded how glorious rugby league can be due to the quality of the footy that’s been played.
On Saturday night we saw the Manly Sea Eagles inflict a loss on the Melbourne Storm by a single point in golden point.
That’s only the Storm’s third loss of the season and places the Sea Eagles well within striking distance of the top four.
Then there’s the Penrith Panthers, who heading into Round 10 of the competition looked well and truly out but now find themselves in the top eight still, despite receiving a reality check on Sunday afternoon from competition heavyweights the Canberra Raiders.
But if I’m completely honest, for me this weekend has been soured by the questioning and criticism of our officials.
This ‘ref’s fault’ culture that prevails amongst rugby league fans is by far and away the biggest problem in our game and makes rugby league fans look petulant.
Footy fans don’t seem to be content unless they are complaining about something and this weekend, it was about our officials.
Let’s go back to Friday night where Kalyn Ponga was sent to the sin bin for what, at the time, was deemed a shoulder charge on Michael Chee-Kam.
It astounds me that when that decision was made, people were more concerned about Ponga spending two minutes in the sin-bin than Chee-Kam, who was left spasming on the ground.
I concede that in the aftermath, very few thought it was a sin bin. Plenty thought it was at least a penalty. But the footy media certainly debated it for hours afterward.
Ponga showed plenty of class after the game. When he was interviewed and asked about the incident, he refused to play along and simply said “I don’t care [if it was a shoulder charge or not]. I just hope he’s ok.”
And isn’t that the main thing?
(AAP Image/Brendon Thorne)
The second incident that I want to focus on came in the game between the Parramatta Eels and the New Zealand Warriors where, with only a few minutes left, the Warriors were denied a try because Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was deemed to have thrown a forward pass.
In my view, the pass was forward. Plenty may accuse me of bias given that I am a Parramatta Eels supporter. But there were plenty on social media who agreed with me. And plenty who didn’t, which simply reflects what the call was – a 50/50 call that the referee made a decision on.
Footy fans are a funny lot – we want a fast game and for officials to back themselves and make a decision. But when they make a decision that we don’t like or that we think is wrong, that referee never hears the end of it.
To compound the issue, we had the national broadcast partner of the NRL, Fox League running polls to determine whether the officials got the call right or wrong.
In my view, the national broadcaster should aim for much more than clickbait and contributing to that culture where we blame the officials for a team winning or losing a game.
A betting company based in New Zealand even went so far as to refund all head to head bets on the Warriors for that game… for what was a 50/50 decision.
That call is now being blamed for costing the Warriors their season (along with the 9-2 penalty count).
You know what it might be more appropriate to blame? The Warriors’ inconsistency through the year. Or their ill-discipline. Or even the decision to let Shaun Johnson test the market last year.
But instead, we’ve chosen to zero in on the referees.
I would go so far as to say that this ref’s fault culture does not exist in other sports to the same extent that it does in rugby league.
Recently in the Women’s Ashes, we saw Rachael Haynes get dismissed LBW when she sat was just 13 runs away from her maiden Test century. The Women’s Ashes does not feature DRS because a decision was made that it was too costly.
Later replays showed that Haynes was not out. None of the headlines the next day focused on that – but instead chose to focus on the rest of the day’s play.
I wish rugby league were more like this.
The sooner we accept that our referees are human and will make errors, the happier we will be as fans. And additionally, maybe we don’t call for someone’s head when they have made a 50/50 decision that could legitimately go either way.
So let’s get back to focusing on the footy, because the best part of the season is yet to come.
Cugel
Roar Rookie
I can well remember watching Warren Boland and Artie Beetson do the Saturday arvo ABC game. 90 minutes week in, week out of carping at the ref. Meanwhile Jack Gibson, after every landslide Eels victory in the early 80s - "Ref made 20 errors, all benefiting the other mob YET AGAIN". All of this superimposed on a monotonous rumble of a "Refs favour Manly, refs favour Manly" chant. BTW, the real culprit is bulls##t rules.
Tom G
Roar Rookie
Is blaming the ref a new phenomena?? Is it any more prevalent now than it always has been? The answer to both questions is no. Controversy is the lifeblood of this sport. Sure we occasionally get told that changes will eliminate mistakes but the evidence suggest otherwise. Whilst there is a winner and a loser the latter will always focus on reasons that their heroes failed. The NRL are feed the issue by reacting with their changes... the two referees which have exacerbated debate.. a bunker system which has so much inconclusive footage to watch it provides fresh debate. The real truth? The game is over adjudicated and needs a simpler not more complex approach.
rae
Guest
As I have noted before....the law of rugby says you can pass laterally. the law of physics says if you pass laterally the ball will continue to move forward . The further you throw the ball the more obvious this is.
rae houghton
Guest
These referees can make or break , not just a game, but a season. They need to be LESS stringent. Anything remotely close to 50 -50 should be allowed to pass, and if blatant...then sinbinning should happen without thinking.(as rules allow) As for forward passes, 3 cm shouldn't be considered...and those refs need to learn about physics and vectors. Balls continue to move forward even though thrown backward. Try throwing something out of a car or train directly parallel......it continues to move with the speed of the train.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Exactly, it's one of these silly ideas that gets repeated time and time again but is clueless. Refs performance is a stand alone issue , it's Greenburg who was carrying on with that nonsense and the herd fall in to line.
Nick
Roar Guru
Yeah, but you're not going to go to the pilot and tell him/her how they should do their job better are you? You are just picking on a profession (refereeing) you think you know a bit about, and thus becoming the textbook armchair critic. Although, look who I'm talking to. You probably do think you know how to fly a plane better than a pilot.
Nick
Roar Guru
If people are making accusations that referees are deliberately acting in an unfair manner. It is a crime.
Jacko
Guest
yes you are!!!!
Jacko
Guest
Another silly "go become a ref' comment.....i dont want to be a ref...i dont want to be a pilot either but i do expect my pilot to do his job correctly....Dont want to be a cleaner either but expect the cleaner at work to do their job properly...Its a silly comment at best....
Jacko
Guest
The bunker looked at the try the Eels scored off a supposed Warriors knock-back and it has been proved the ball was touched last by a Eels player meaning it was an eels knock-on....so what is the point of the bunker?....Its time to just toss a coin then rule try or no try based on who called correctly
Jacko
Guest
what a silly rant....The players made mistakes so therefore the Refs are allowed to make mistakes...How silly a comment can one person write....The game is about the players...No one but their wives or kids go to see the ref...The ref is there to rule on a set of predetermined rules they should know...this type of response is part of the reason the refs are as pathetic as they have become....The ref is nothing but quality control....Pick out the errors....They dont get tackled...they dont have their kicks charged down...they ONLY have to watch and find the errors...Nothing like being a player at all.....
Jacko
Guest
Sprucee when did bad reffing become a crime? You are being rather sillly....
Jacko
Guest
6-4 should have been the correct count....2 of the 3 you state spruce were awarded to wrong team....
Nick
Roar Guru
And yet you have a spare 10 minutes to criticise them ad infinitum...
Jacko
Guest
Sure Spruce....Why dont I just go and do every job the world has to offer?..Become a ref???? Sorry I dont have 10 mins spare to study the rule book like it appears some refs do.....
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
That also includes "My (named) Team" but to a much lesser extent. ;-)
planko
Roar Guru
Upon review Jake T's was not as bad Cotric. Graeme Annesley said this last night in NRL360. Maybe cotric was decision was harsh but they got it right on Jake.
planko
Roar Guru
Bottom line about Jake T's tackle compared to Cotric is unfortunately for Nic it was deemed by MRC and then again on NRL 360 last by Graeme Annesley that they still consider that tackle as being different and one substantially worse than the other.
Rob
Guest
It’s not rub of the green. What happened in Warriors game was a succession of bad calls not even 50/50 related stuff that resulted in a them losing the game. Mistakes are made when officials miss things and that’s acceptable but when officials are making inconsistence calls to the extent that are consistently favouring one team it’s BS and worth investigating.
Nick
Roar Guru
Touchies can call on forward passes. On field refs can overrule/ignore touchies. Touchies can't overrule on field refs. So, of course, while a touchie stays stone silent, the ref will just carry on.