Last Friday evening Peter V’landys and the leading referees made a breakthrough in negotiations over this week’s discussions between the NRL and the referees union.
It’s miraculous work by V’landys considering it felt like World War III was about to develop between the game and one of its most important commodities.
This agreement will allow the game to kick off this Thursday with one referee and cost-savings to boot.
While the referees will back themselves to be able to control a game with only one on-field official, the blunt truth is that very few of the leading crop have that experience in the game’s modern era.
The only time the elite NRL referees would have had an opportunity to experience being fully in control of a game is at international level. This is taking into account that the elite haven’t been demoted to the Queensland Intrust Super Cup or Canterbury Cup NSW in the past few seasons, where one on-field ref is common.
Gerard Sutton. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Since the 2017 Rugby League World Cup there have been 21 Tests played, with 14 officiated by current NRL referees.
Gerard Sutton has officiated six of those Tests, Grant Atkins three, Matt Cecchin two and Ashley Klein, Ben Cummins and Adam Gee one each.
This is in comparison to 419 National Rugby League matches played in the same period, representing three per cent of NRL and international matches where the elite referees have been the lone on-field official since the start of 2018.
Of the current crop Sutton would be the most adapted to control a game on his own and would be a prime candidate for opening this Thursday’s revised season between Brisbane and Parramatta at Suncorp Stadium.
On a side note, the Broncos have lost just once in the past 16 games with Sutton refereeing at Suncorp Stadium.
Klein and Atkins are likely to be successful too, having plied their trade through the junior ranks and in Super League respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum there’s a number of referees who will struggle to adapt and will likely to resort to blowing the pea out of the whistle.
One who comes to mind is Henry Perenara.
Perenara isn’t a classically trained referee and took up the whistle only once his playing career ended.
Quite often his penalty count can be upwards and over 20 penalties a game. This can be to the detriment of teams that enjoy free-flowing football.
The Sydney Roosters seemed to have escaped the refereeing of Perenara; he’s only officiated them eight times in the last five seasons.
Alternatively, his style may suit a grinding team such as Manly, who enjoy the stop-start style. He has been involved in 20 of their games in the same period, with the Sea Eagles winning the last five with him in control.
Henry Perenara (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
There’s another facet to be considered. With the exclusion of the part-time touch officials from the newly inked deal it’s likely permanent on-field referees may need to officiate as linesmen.
Over 1200 games of linesman experience has gone within a flash, with the likes of Jeff Younis, Nicholas Beashel and Rickey McFarlane ‘sitting’ on the sidelines.
Imagine Gavin Badger, Matt Noyan, Matt Cecchin or even Sutton running the line in a game your team is playing.
Touch judging is a specialised role. Gus Gould proved that when he gave it a go many years back.
If we get lead referees ‘filling in’ as linesmen, this indicates a bigger concern: fatigue and a higher risk of injury. The already stretched resources of a 22-man squad could be shown up quite quickly.
If Thursday’s appointment goes to Sutton and he performs well, V’landys and the mainstream media will be lauding their efforts to make the sudden shift to one referee.
I’m predicting that as the weeks go on and the lower end of the elite referees’ weaknesses are exposed the honeymoon will be over. We may even be pleading by late October that the game needs two on-field referees because of the wrestling tactics slowing down the ruck speed. Not even a threat of ‘six again’ will curb ruck behaviour. That ruling is set to cause confusion compared to the idea of making the game quicker.
The ‘informed’ rugby league public will need to realise mistakes will be made despite the two sideline officials and the fact not every camera angle will pick up ruck infringements or late hits on players after passing the ball or kicking downfield.
Three per cent is scary, but it’s the naked truth that will separate the men from the boys in the referee ranks over the next six months.
Superspud
Roar Rookie
The point is that the same people who were whinging about 1 referee were the same people who then whinged about 2 referees and now they will be the same ones whinging now. The best way to make something popular is to replace it with a new system.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
No more interesting than you attempting to use an unfit, non credentialed Gould as the one and only example in the past 20 years to show that a non specialist can’t do it. I’m confidently backing the refs who run the lines this year to not make more than the 3 season changing decisions that the specialists have and to at most equal that 0.5% error rate.
Matt Pritchard
Roar Rookie
Phil, we'll agree to disagree. Sutton is best placed because out of the current crop, he is streets ahead. Maybe Phil if you understand how referee's and touch judges are graded, you may be unqualified to understand the process. Very few linesmen become refs after being graded, and vice versa. Do you understand that almost all the linesman in round 2 were part-timers and now they're gone?
Matt Pritchard
Roar Rookie
Walter, I think it could be made worse with less scrutiny over the ruck with wrestling tactics. The Captains Challenge is a good concept, but unless we get 360 angle cameras which can see what happens in a tackle, it's prone to being wrong too - given there's a human judgement involved.
Matt Pritchard
Roar Rookie
Andrew, I think the description of WWIII was more at what the media was making out to be the issue, the unions who were within their rights to argue the EBA to the NRL. I am sure there were hidden agenda's behind James Hooper's story about the union boss and his part-time job. Time will judge what V'landys does to the game. I think the key for him is media support, but that will never last. I would love to see stats around play the ball average speed 2019 vs 2020 post one ref.
Matt Pritchard
Roar Rookie
Hi Paul, the proof will be in how the ruck is controlled. Usually the pocket referee is in a better position to see if the ball is lost through a mistake, or human intervention. I think there will be a lot of guesswork coming the way of the on-field ref. If play is mid-field, the linesman is relying on making a call when they are 35 metres across from the play. What you find at international level is a drop in intensity from the week-in-week-out NRL. It's more of a showpiece for the game to play good footy. In my experiences at a junior level you have different things to look at from a linesman perspective, compared to an on-field ref. The linesman is responsible for keeping an eye on backplay, better line of judgement on forward passes were as an on-field ref is keeping track of where the ball is on-field. As it's been told today in some reports the senior refs went behind the back of the union, so that kinda sucks.
Matt Pritchard
Roar Rookie
Thanks Monorchid - not sure about the date thing - thats the site's timestamp. 22 is the full-time employed NRL squad. I am not sure the Bunker is suffering the same cuts as the on-field officials. If they aren't that's absolutely crazy! We are in for a big next few weeks. The NRL might wish they didn't do a deal with the full time refs behind the union's back.
Matt Pritchard
Roar Rookie
Interesting comment. You are talking about three situations over the last 3 years. One a year out of over 200 NRL games. That's less than 0.5% error rate. What about the ones they get right, too?
Walter Black
Guest
My point was that 1 ref couldn't have made it any worse. The pocket ref could see some of the bad decisions that were being made but was powerless to stop them. The one thing that could have improved the debacle would have been the Captains challenge but we didn't have it then. I sometimes wonder if the one ref and the captains challenge changes didn't stem from that match.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
As for specialist touch judges, can’t help think how specialist Michael Wise (SOO experienced) ruled Vunivalu out and ended the Storms finals campaign early last year. Or how after consulting his touch judges, line and in goal, the referee allowed the Dragons to snatch $500 k erroneously from the Panthers in this years 9’s. Or Ricky Mcfarlanes infamous flag in the air costing the Raiders. But for the crime de la creme watch on YouTube NRLs biggest brain explosions part 2..fast forward to the end to see Cody Walkers touch finder and the ensuing ‘biggest blunder in professional sport ever..’
Andrew
Guest
How would having one ref have made that "debacle", which wasn't really a debacle, any better?
Cadfael
Roar Guru
I disagree here. Referees don't suddenly appear on the NRL playing fields. Most do start refereeing juniors and in most country and park competitions (which is where most refs come from). Here they referee and do lines for the day's games. My point is that the referees do games as the one official. We often read of NRL referees helping out at junior games so they should be able to slot in without too much trouble. The issue is that the linesmen do their jobs correctly.
Walter Black
Guest
After the debacle we had in the finals last year where one touchie and 2 refs were suspended and the outcome of the game very likely to have been changed, one ref on his own has a long way to fall before it gets that bad again.
Andrew
Guest
100%. As to the piece; I agree on some points not all. I don't think it is fair to say the refs were carrying on and making this like WWIII. The media did and now the PVL friendly media get to play him out like Churchill for sorting it out when he was the one creating the threat - the refs never said they wanted to strike yet he told us all they would be the enemy of all fans if they tried to. Another factor you haven't touched on is there is no longer a succession plan for officials. And I am still trying to understand how going from 2 refs back to 1 will help with making the game faster, which seems to be his big spin..
Mooty
Roar Rookie
I’m a bit off subject here, but what was the point of appointing a new CEO when V’landy seems to be making all the decisions, as he does with racing. He’s becoming a bit of a one man show.
Phil
Roar Rookie
Matt, you are overstating things. To say Sutton would be the best credentialled to officiate in a one ref game because he has done more internationals solo is silly. Talent comes into it just like players. As for refs running lines, it is part of their apprenticeship, essential to their learning the job. Every ref has done his share of lines just as they have reffed hundreds of games solo before cracking the big time. You talk about touchies as a specialist job which is fair enough, but all touchies are refs. It's not as if that is all they have done in RL. I have no doubt going back to one ref will work as will those running lines.
Monorchid
Roar Rookie
I agree with you Paul. By the way, I don't think that Gus could run a bath let alone the sidelines. And why wouldn't fans be happy with professionals running the sidelines? Let the games begin.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Where was all the panic when some of these refs had to officiate Internationals for the first time on a solo basis? Can't recall any commentary during the games about how much the refs were struggling. If any of the refs are struggling , a can of lightly carbonated lemon flavored soft drink slammed down fast will get them going anyway.
Paul
Roar Guru
I think the title of your piece is on the money Matt, but am not sure about some of the points you've made. First of all, how will we know what decisions have been made incorrectly as a result of the one ref system? I've no doubt the bobbleheads will be out in force, arguing about this point, but the only guys who will truly know are the refs themselves. I'm also wondering exactly what we're losing by not having "specialist" touch judges? When a Rugby International is played, all officials are referees and in most cases, have officiated as the main referee in Tests. They don't see a need for specialist touchies so I'm wondering what difference there is between the two codes that makes you think we'll lose because they're not there? I also don't think your example of Gus Gould running the sidelines stacks up with a Matt Ceechin or someone like him doing the same job. Personally, I believe we'll actually be far better off with professional refs on the sidelines. They're accustomed to the flow of the game and know what to look for in just about every situation given their experience on the field. Interestingly, the Refs Association hasn't made this an issue either, which makes me think they're happy with refs holding the flags. The final point I want to make is about the Tests these guys have officiated as single refs. I can't say I've seen them all, but I've seen more than a few Tests and I reckon they did a way better job in those games than they did in a regular NRL game. It would be a miracle of Biblical proportions if this change went without hitch, but I've got a lot of confidence the refereeing officials will not crash & burn.
Monorchid
Roar Rookie
Matt, you've raised some good points. Bit puzzled by the 30th November under your name though. I get your point. Many of today's referees aren't used to being alone. And you point out that there are only 22 in the squad. Is that right - only 22? There's also the frequency of games in the upcoming tournament which is a bit squashed compared to the normal year. I think that they'll go all right with the usual mix of good and bad decision making. I tend to think of the officials as being their own team if you consider the linesmen who can help the man in the middle. And then there's the dreaded bunker too. You do point out that touch judging is a specialised role, but it's no more specialised than that of the other officials. Anyway, it is what it is, and we'll find out soon which is very different to what our RU cousins will.