If you’re looking for an unbiased, analytical piece citing statistics, this is not the read for you. This is raw emotion – frustration, indignity and bitterness so vast you could add it to your lemon and lime for years.
Why do NRL officials hate the Warriors? Another lopsided penalty count against the Eels, another result influenced by officials.
I know it’s the nature of sport. I expect most fans outside of Melbourne feel they never get the rub, the odds are against them, the opposition infringe with impunity while their team get punished.
But the Warriors seem to get more bum calls than most. Or at least that’s how it feels for the faithful. That perception isn’t helped when we score – fans hold their breath while a team of forensic investigators examine every blade of grass in an attempt to disallow it.
By the time a Warriors’ try is awarded, officials can not only trace its origins back nine tackles, but they can also tell you what the try-scorer ate for breakfast. Contrastingly, when the opposition score: whistle peeps, arm goes up, no need to check it, lads.
(Ashley Feder/Getty Images)
The Warriors got no love from the officials against Paramatta, losing by six after the Eels scored twice and Jazz Tevaga was binned for what appeared to be overzealous pushing, naughty words and pulling angry faces.
A card? I’ve seen more damage done to line officials at the US Open.
In defence of referee Grant Atkins, it’s not like Nathan Brown is a recidivist offender who over-reacts and carries on like a complete pork chop. Actually…
To be fair to Brown, Tevaga is too easily sparked as well. Both players are aggressive and relish personal battles. But it needs to be controlled. Big games can be decided by a single moment with little margin for error.
More pain. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck soared through the air, part world-class fullback, part gazelle, before Nathan Brown collided with him, sending the Warriors captain tumbling to earth. It wasn’t just clumsy, it was dangerous.
It was a key moment. Warriors fans rubbed their hands in expectation. The whistle went, Atkins raised his arm. Penalty to the Eels. Offside play. I was stunned. I was outraged. I bellowed something that couldn’t be published.
Brown may have been looking up, but he was no chance of catching that ball. In rugby union they protect the jumper. Brown would have received a red card. If you think that’s because union is touch footy for people who don’t like tackling and enjoy group cuddles, I’ve never seen anyone carded in rugby for vigorous pushing resulting in hurt feelings.
I wanted to turn off my TV and throw the remote. I didn’t do either. The Warriors have shown over the last six weeks they don’t give up, and they didn’t against the Eels.
The Warriors handled the dud calls far better than me, responding with two of the tries of the season. I bellowed again, this time with joy.
It was another tremendous Warriors effort, but ultimately they ran out of gas. Without doubt the Eels had some favourable calls, but they didn’t play as well as they could and still managed to get the result. Good teams do that regardless of the calls. Fair play to them.
The Warriors have improved significantly throughout this season but too late for finals footy. That wasn’t Grant Atkins or Nathan Brown’s fault; blame belongs with the Warriors. They know this.
I think I know it too. I lied when I said this wasn’t going to be an analytical piece. I’ve done the numbers. They don’t support my argument that the Warriors are hard done by, so I ignored them.
If the Warriors can continue to build, maybe they will get more calls, or maybe they won’t need them.
Suv
Roar Rookie
Paul Crawley and Brent Read have both commented on NRL360 that the warriors always get a raw deal from the referees and they are true blue aussies so no biased views there. I have to agree with them. 2 games this year they've had fair refs decisions. 1 against manly and 2-against Newcastle. The rest have been just awful. :angry:
Fair Go
Guest
Why blame the officials.Tevaga had a go at Brown full stop.You saw the incident on replay and normal speed. Who was the aggressor.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
I really don't understand the premise of many of the comments here. Refs make mistakes we get that. Refs give preferential treatment to teams because they are not the Warriors... because why? Because it is less likely to be made a big deal of because it is "just the Warriors"? So that means during a game in a split second a referee has to make a call and people here think the referee in that moment thinks, 'I will just give it to Parra (in this case) because even if i am wrong, it won't matter'. If they are wrong, they are wrong. It is going to matter. Referees care far less about the Court of Public Opinion than they do the review done by their own peers. They are trying to get every call right, to suggest, because it is the Warriors they don't worry about making a wrong call is just Twitter level dumb. - sorry folks.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
It is illegal to take the legs of a player out when they are in the air. But that isn’t what happened. Two guys went for the ball. One chose to fly through the sky, the other didn’t. A player going for the ball shouldn’t be penalised because another play chose to jump for the same ball. You can hate on Nathan Brown all you like, but on that occasion, he went for the ball and did nothing wrong..
Succhi
Roar Rookie
I’m not a Warriors supporter, (they are my second team) and I reckon they get dudded often. My theory is because they are in NZ the refs and administrators don’t feel the heat on dud calls. I recall the other week the penalty count with the Titans was 7 - 0. A team in the bottom 4 is suddenly is that disciplined. Gimme a break!
up in the north
Roar Rookie
Frankly I was pissed during that game at how inconsistent the decisions were and the obvious -imo- bias towards Parra. The fact that I selected the Warriors and it stole a full card from me is by the by. They woz robbed.
Nat
Roar Rookie
I tend to agree with you. The Parra game had it's moments. At the very least Brown should have been reported (2x actually) but the call was right, first infringement was offside. Where I really noticed it was the start of the year - there were some shockers the refs called against the Warriors and usually when they started getting some momentum. However, as others have stated, poor teams get poor calls. Still, I have enjoyed watching them.
Nat
Roar Rookie
I agree about Aitkens and he's become worse as this season progresses. I'm waiting for a players to ask him if he wants his name in the paper this week. I would like to know his strike rate for challenges.
Jeremy Brown
Roar Pro
I miss the biff too Barry; at least the players can defend themselves. Hard to do that with both feet off the ground.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
the problem is that they are NOT refereeing to the rule book....what they use is an actual publication called "Interpretations for NRL" and there lies the problem. Who's interpretation ....that is the question?
Tony
Roar Guru
The count would have been 17-3 without Smith.
Tony
Roar Guru
It also helps to have your own member of the referees association on the field.
Tony
Roar Guru
I know that I'm a human dinosaur, but back in the day the big guys looked after the little guys. Klemmer and co need to take care of Ponga and the playmakers. Bring back the biff!
Jeremy Brown
Roar Pro
The NRL has some amazing fullbacks - Tedesco, Ponga, RTS, Papenhuyzen, Trbojevic to name a few. Human highlight reels. The game is far better with them in it. The NRL have clamped down on grapple tackles, pressure tackles, introduced concussion tests etc, but yet it’s still ok to take out the legs of their most valuable talent while completely vulnerable 5 feet off the ground? It’s inconsistent and It’s dangerous. I hope they don’t wait until someone is seriously hurt before protecting those guys.
Jeremy Brown
Roar Pro
I thought Melbourne got the rub because Cam Smith is currently an extra on-field official. But when they played the warriors they got whacked 7-3 in the penalty count. It went unnoticed as Melbourne still won 50 - 6. Ouch. So maybe the top performing teams do get rough calls but it’s less noticeable as they still get the result? But I hear you, sure feels like there is sub-conscious bias in there somewhere... surely..
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Titans cop this too. All clubs without a strong 'image' cop it. Subconscious or otherwise, if it's a critical call it will go in the way of the high profile or finals bound team because there is less fall out. It may be based on 'circumstantial' evidence or impressions, but I'm yet to see otherwise.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Pure numbers can be misleading. Go back an look over what the penalties are for, when and how important in the game and if they are 'even-up' at the end. I think you'll find a different story.
watcher
Guest
I don't think there is any doubt that the Warriors are on the end of more than their share of calls that have been shown to be wrong, getting sick of Annesley admitting them. The question is why does it happen. My view is not that the Refs are 'bent', more that empathy for the game is coached out of them, so they are reffing the rulebook, not the game. Secondly, and once again this is not deliberate in all likelihood, is that if the decision goes against the Warriors they will not cop as much criticism especially if it is a Sydney team. That applies to the RTS decision as Brown didn't leave the ground in his 'contest', and dangerous is dangerous. Should have been a Warriors penalty, no more. Thirdly, Bunker decisions, should only check out what is asked for, Tevaga's first try had more replays than the Zapruder film. Bunker Ref was a former Parra player, that just asks for problems. Have neutrals for all games. How simple is that.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Yep ! Love the frustrated fan's perspective of their team's treatment by officials. I have followed the Panthers since 1967 and over that time they have spent many years down with the "cellar dwellers". And I do think the "cellar dwellers" at times do get treated harsher than the "high flying" teams of the time. Maybe its a subconscious thing for officials to assume the lesser lights deserve closer scrutiny ? The comparison between the Panthers 1991 & 2003 seasons and other ordinary years, in terms of refereeing treatment , was quite stark. I recall the Panthers having unusually favourable treatment from the officials in those premiership winning years. But maybe that was because they were a great team and others battled with infringements to try to hold them. The Warriors have had a few dodgy calls in recent times , but as their own performances improve , I reckon these dodgy calls too will become fewer.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
My personal opinion is that Grant Atkins is not even close to a first grade referee. Too eager to blow the whistle just to stamp his authority on the game instead of refereeing with common sense. I put Ashleigh Klein in the same category. Matt Cecchin for mine is their best and I think that Gerard Sutton has improved immensely under the one ref system. The rest are run of the mill. However as I have previously stated that they need to get rid of their manual "Interpretations for the NRL" chuck it in the bin and referee to the actual rules not what different referee's think should be the rules. I too was getting frustrated at the referring decisions during that game so Jeremy you were not alone.