The lack of respect shown to Kasey Badger as she refereed Saturday’s Wests Tigers vs Canterbury Bulldogs game is unfortunately nothing new.
Nor is the reaction from the dark corners of the web that crawl out from under rocks whenever a female sporting official makes an error.
Badger made a few errors at Accor Stadium and deserves the scrutiny and criticism that come with the job.
What she doesn’t deserve is to have players use their physical presence to get in her face or deliberately tower over her. No ref deserves this treatment.
But there’s a rude shock coming the way of any player who thinks they can succeed with this tactic – Badger is made of tough stuff.
You have to be, irrespective of gender, to be an NRL referee. Physically fit and mentally strong.
Sit near the sidelines of any NRL game and listen to the abuse that the match officials cop from players and fans, and it’s shocking the amount of abuse that gets hurled their way by dickheads who think they know better.
Those loudmouths, whether it’s a noted hot-head like Tigers prop David Klemmer, the abusive fans in the stands or the “courageous” commenters in the social media sewers who spew forth vitriol from the comfort of their online pseudonym, you’re wasting your time.
Badger has fought through so many slings and arrows during her career that she has built up a thick skin to become impervious to the critics.
Aidan Sezer is placed on report by referee Kasey Badger. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
And she’s overcome setback after setback to achieve her dream of becoming an NRL referee.
The whistleblowers are put through a testing process just to be fit enough to keep up with the play while also having a comprehensive knowledge of the many vagaries of the rulebook so that they can make the correct call under fatigue.
Badger was so dedicated to her goal of making it to the top that six years ago she had surgery to have part of a rib removed because of chronic pain in her right arm.
She’s also soldiered on during matches despite a chronic ankle injury and and she had to miss time in the 2020 season due to a herniated disc in her back.
After refereeing in the men’s tournament at the World Cup in 2022 she made her NRL debut last season and is again part of the senior squad this year.
Every ref makes errors in every game they officiate in. Just like every player and every coach.
They all have a high threshold of tolerance for the abuse they cop but just because they are resilient, doesn’t mean it’s open slather for cowards to rain down upon them with abuse.
Badger stuffed up by not sending Aiden Sezer off after his horrendous hip drop tackle on Josh Curran. At a bare minimum it should have been a sin bin and the fact that he is now banned for the next four games shows how serious it was and how serious the damage could have been to his opponent’s leg.
But she was not alone in making that call. It was an officiating issue, an error but one that sadly happens way too often in the NRL.
It’s hard to comprehend how players are routinely judged by the match review committee in their dispassionate post-game analysis to have committed foul play on the field that is result in bans of multiple weeks but if a referee sits a player down for 10 minutes or, heaven forbid, send them off then some fans and media members act like the whistleblower has egregiously stepped out of line.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley spoke sense on Monday when he said the furore over the way some of the Tigers and Bulldogs players treated Badger was not a gender issue but all about respect for referees in general.
Well, there’s an easy way for the referees to get respect – come down hard on players who step out of line.
Badger, like all referees entering the top grade, need a kill to show they’re someone not to be messed with.
If she had pointed Sezer to the sheds for his grubby tackle, some Tigers fans would have been up in arms but the majority of NRL supporters would have applauded the move.
Annesley also said Klemmer was lucky not to be sent off altogether in the 74th minute after he was sin-binned for dissent and then joined in a melee involving several players from each side.
He then tried the “who me?” response to Badger after she told him to get off the field a second time.
This is the same David Klemmer who was involved in a similar incident no less than nine years ago on the same ground when he yelled in the face of referee Gerard Sutton as he and Canterbury captain James Graham blew up about a late penalty against them.
He hasn’t learnt much between then and now. At least Klemmer got a three-game ban back then. This time around he had the option of a two-game ban or paying a fine of $3000.
To most people, that is a lot of money. For a former NSW and Australian representative on a lucrative deal which was carried over and extended as part of the deal to get him from Newcastle, it’s not even close to half his weekly wage.
Do you reckon the message has sunk in this time?
The NRL overhauled its judiciary process just before the start of last season to supposedly make it simpler and prevent players getting bans for low-grade offences, particularly repeat offenders.
But it has created an atmosphere where players know they will only get a hefty suspension if they really step out of line.
David Klemmer. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
It is a system which meant Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans, who had been charged once previously in 350 matches at the top level, was treated the same as Rabbitohs winger Taane Milne, who had been in trouble with the judiciary five times in the space of 20 months.
No discounts for DCE and no extra weighting placed on Milne for his latest unsavoury incident, diving at the legs of Cameron Munster when he was already tackled with a clear intent to injure him.
They will never admit it publicly but the players are happy with the current system because it is much more lenient than previous judiciary set-ups.
And that leads to a sense of entitlement where they think it’s OK to get in the face of a referee.
Badger and the rest of the refereeing cohort of that matter have the power to bring the players into line by using that oft-forgotten device known as the rulebook.
But they need the NRL executives, match review committee and judiciary ready to back them up to ensure that refs and the rules are respected.
Magic Round is coming up – perhaps the players need another crackdown on foul play to remind them that they need to play by the rules.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
There's a lot of people who'd need your services as a character witness at the pearly gates!
Returned Son
Roar Rookie
Well this is gonna get my head bitten off... League should take a note from Rugby abput attitude, culture and respect towards ref's.
wilbas
Roar Rookie
It was not what was first introduced as a hip drop...yeah sure his arse was on his calf but he did not drop his arse with legs up down over both legs...as a matter of fact one leg was between the players leg and the other outside....next it will be the torso drop and tackles below legs are banned...I saw JWH get penalized for one the other week where he dived from behind and ref said dangerous tackle....It's nuts and players are playing this one like crusher tackle..
wilbas
Roar Rookie
and bunker set restarts...they are mindblowing...are they sponsored by sportsbet.
wilbas
Roar Rookie
She was in a different time zone then the game...She was operating about how many seconds it took for the bunker to speak in her ear and she looked like a rabbit in the headlights...That's where the criticism grew...Maybe some jumped on the woman stuff but she was a little behind and not pro-active..The big hoo-hah grew from the fact the bulldog winger ran an escort run to stop Bula from a chance at the Ball and also to make the tackle and that was the straw that blew the tigers up...they finally had some good fortune from the defence that seemed to be behind them when they received a ball from dummy half...I've never saw Penrith that efficient in line speed in the middle of 2nd half...The tigers could not make a meter..
wilbas
Roar Rookie
They all are good blokes when they die.
wilbas
Roar Rookie
good point...just like the rich getting driving fines....we need demerit points and a certain amount means you miss a game.
rodney pombart
Roar Rookie
Not sure that fines are a waste of time. Imagine the amount of money the Man of Feathers is recouping for the league. Ka Ching
wilbas
Roar Rookie
I don't even know what a hip drop is'''I understood it to be wrapping arms around waist and then dropping your arse with legs off ground down on the players lower legs...I did not see what Sezer did to be the definition of the hip drop....one of his legs was inside the tackled players legs and the other was outside...
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
: I’d love to see a ref take the earpiece out until they actually needed a second opinion... Flaw: What happens when there's off-the-ball thuggery that the refs don't spot?
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Right. So any criticism is to be responded to with, "Let's see you do better!". Grow up ffs. But speaking of such type... Watched (listened really) to a NSW State game on Fox last w/e that had Mark Carroll at the mike. He's well worth listening to. Especially if you enjoyed the 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch from Python. If fact, probably *only* if you enjoyed that sketch...
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Don't be silly. There's a difference between perfection and "competence".
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Beige was it?
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
I don’t think the Penny has dropped for lot of Roarers on these Posts.Kasey is not just the Ref in modern NRL , she is part of a Refereeing System.Sure she’s the main focal point ,but part of a Team of Match Day Officials (with GA eventually at the end on Monday’s).Unfortunately in life these days everything is complicated.
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
Yep the badgering of Badger could be a watershed moment for the NRL.The wrath of the whistle blowers is upon us! Now that Kasey has set the precedent- MotorMouths beware
Robbo
Roar Rookie
I dont bother with social media much - except for the roar - so I can't offer Kasey any support outside of this forum. In my observations I have found her to be a very solid referee and linesman. I dont think she is easily intimidated and nor should she be. The whole world is watching and while i understand the physicality of the game and a certain level of aggression, the referees must always remain completely separate, especially considering that they may be women
NQR
Roar Rookie
I can see a reactionary clamp down coming and that nasty, abusive, motor mouth from NQ Tom Dearden and his mate Cotter being the first ones made examples of. Mark my words I’ve seen how this stuff goes.
NQR
Roar Rookie
The bunker was literally reffing the game for her. Maybe the players were yelling at her earpiece because they suspected that’s where the real official was? Honestly if she was being intimidated and abused she was the one to take action. Was the bunker supposed to tell her they are standing all over you send them to the bin?
NQR
Roar Rookie
Bugger Kent. Has anybody checked on the innocent tree. I suspect the tree said didn’t say anything to Kent before being attacked.
NQR
Roar Rookie
I thought there was a bit of bunker influence going on in Badgers performance Cowboys v Panthers the week earlier. Like you said a lot of her calls were on significant delay and there were a couple of call over ruled because she guessed wrong. As you know I refrain from criticising officials but I just thought as you mentioned it I’d lend my support to your theory TB.