Expert
Joined May 2015
67.1k
Views
40
Published
159
Comments
Daniel Eastwood is a former NRL Touch Judge, running the lines between 2008 and 2014. He officiated in the 2011 Grand Final and State of Origin series.
Published
Comments
“I'll be asking those two referees to not be officiating in Game 2,” declared New South Wales State of Origin coach Laurie Daley after…
When I was still a kid, yet old enough to stay up later than 8:30pm, I would sometimes flick through the free-to-air channels and…
If the National Rugby League wants to continue to describe itself as 'the greatest game of all', it had better take a look in…
A second-half blitz with four tries in the final 20 minutes saw the Canberra Raiders prevail over the Canterbury Bulldogs on Sunday. Yet it…
The boardroom situation at the Parramatta Eels has still not been resolved. After the damning interim NRL findings were released at the beginning of…
Reading of Darcy Lussick's mother's passing last week and his wonderful tribute to her reminded me of the time I had to deal with…
The rep weekend has come and gone, with only one more year to come around in its current format. And again, just like clockwork,…
Tuesday was the greatest day the recent history of the Eels. For the supporters of that club and all the people involved from the…
What a round of rugby league we just witnessed! The game came together from both sides of the Tasman to devote a weekend of…
Let's get it out there from the start – the golden point in the National Rugby League is far from golden. It's an exhibition…
I enjoyed seven years of my life as an NRL match official, with the start of the week to the end of the week…
The NRL's bunker looked decidedly shaky over Round 5. Yet the errors that referee's elite performance manager Tony Archer has admitted is not the…
When I was in year three at primary school, the class was given a map of Sydney Harbour. There were the usual Sydney icons…
For thirteen days in October 1962 the world was a dropped-ball away from nuclear war. United States President Barack Obama is in Cuba this…
For many years, Cronulla used a shark mascot named MC Hammerhead. His namesake's biggest hit 'You Can't Touch This' should be the NRL's theme…
Some of the NRL's regulations are shambolic. Nothing illustrated this in the first round of the NRL's 2016 season more than the disjointed and…
Autumn – the prince of seasons - heralds kick-off to the greatest game of all as rugby league gets underway for 2016. Summer is…
There is a rugby league revolution going on in North America right now – and it has nothing to do with Jarryd Hayne. Starting…
Dave Smith will leave rugby league next month. I won't miss him, I won't feel sorry for him, and I won't feel like he's…
The NRL grand final is the pinnacle of the season for the officials. State of Origin games, Test matches – they are all left…
If that was pulled up it would have been ruled a ‘mutual infringement’ which means play is irregularly affected but neither side to blame. (Of course we want to blame Sims but there’s no law in the book that he broke). So if it was pulled up, a scrum would have been formed with the team with the territorial advantage having the loose heas and put-in – which was Newcastle. So they would have more than likely gained possession anyway.
My gripe as an ex-referee? Rubbish signals, and just plain rubbish
Referees work hard to avoid penalties. They know when a team is working for them and will generally give a little bit of leniency to them but too much and they become like the Storm in 2006-08. It is a balancing act because nobody wants to see 25 penalties a game (although we’re getting close some games). The sin bin needs to be used way more often.
My gripe as an ex-referee? Rubbish signals, and just plain rubbish
Yes it reminded me of being ignored by the refs – and being ignored by my own kids!
My gripe as an ex-referee? Rubbish signals, and just plain rubbish
They say that because they consider the English a class above the rest of the Isles (ie Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands etc)
The British are taking over the NRL
Lovey my point was that the on-field officials ruled tackle complete. The Bunker officials then applied their own interpretation to when the tackle was complete – which is not their job.
The NRL bunker is functioning outside its own charter
This is very true, but I don’t know how we’re going to change it. I have seen a referee (now retired) send up a video ref decision to rule on grounding thinking it would be a good way to ease into the game only to have an obstruction missed by the video ref which then blew up into a problem that was never there. Just award the try!
The NRL bunker is functioning outside its own charter
Ah yes – those were the days! Danny Crnkovic, Lee Oudenryn, Matt Goodwin …
Kieran Foran and Parramatta? P for professional
I’m not an Eels supporter myself, but I come across them every day!
My little bloke is also a Knights supporter and I have to keep reminding him his team are in front of the Roosters on the ladder. His response to Monday’s game was: “Why do we keep changing the coach?” I can’t give him an answer
Kieran Foran and Parramatta? P for professional
I live in the Parramatta district and their supporters have been waiting for some good news for a long time. You make a good point about it being early days but I have seen enough to give the fans some hope.
Kieran Foran and Parramatta? P for professional
I try to explain why they don’t in this article http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/07/01/a-forward-pass-is-physics-and-so-is-david-klemmer/
A Cuban lesson for NRL referees
DE: Note to self *link tobacco and illicit substances in next article*
A Cuban lesson for NRL referees
Correct Chris, if the ball was passed back in the first place – which they believed it was (and I do too, for that matter) then it is entirely irrelevant.
A Cuban lesson for NRL referees
Thank you Connor and Dave – a bit like* Billy Corgan writing ‘Today’ I added the intro after I’d finished the rest.
*nothing like
Sorry Dave and James, you really can't touch this
The Roar columnist Steve Mascord mentioned that last week. This is no different to what has been happening for years. Video refs tip the on field officials about everything.
Sorry Dave and James, you really can't touch this
The game will never, ever let scenes like South American soccer eventuate. Referees getting shirtfronted better than any Tony Abbott threat is a seriously bad look for that sport. Whether we have prevented that escalation right at this point – I’m not sure.
Sorry Dave and James, you really can't touch this
Yes HarryT the term the commission used was that he was too ‘reactionary’ – which actually means the opposite of what they intended. ‘Reactionary’ means conservative and resistant to change, whereas they said Gallop didn’t have foresight and reacted to things as they happened. Rugby league is a world of its own and can even redefine the English language.
Sorry Dave and James, you really can't touch this
Thank you Kaks – there were so many cases last weekend I didn’t mention them all!
Sorry Dave and James, you really can't touch this
Thank you 3 Hats. I mentioned in the article that the NRL Club Medicos had to agree. I don’t know why you included things other people have said. The humidity plays a role in heat stress, I gather that. However I don’t believe a break is necessary at all.
The NRL's heat policy is a charade
I sincerely hopes nobody dies from heat complications in rugby league. However, if we want to protect players from every risk we won’t be able to play the game at all. I reiterate the point that there are many opportunities for hydration at tries, on the interchange bench, in possession and attacking, video ref referrals, scrums – a manufactured stoppage is unnecessary. But we can disagree on this Spruce and we can talk about something else next week!
The NRL's heat policy is a charade
Spruce I hope I didn’t exaggerate my experience to near death, but it was certainly uncomfortable. Competition games were cancelled when lower games went ahead. That beats whatever lack of logic I might have displayed through my writing.
The NRL's heat policy is a charade
Part of what I was saying is we seem to be arguing the lack of fatigue as well as wanting more breaks. We can’t have both. I believe there is ample opportunity for water in an NRL game regardless of the temperature.
The NRL's heat policy is a charade
I agree with you, Republican. The northern hemisphere seasons thta we have appropriated don’t reflect our climate. I am displaying my ignorance here, but I believe the Indigenous people here described 6 seasons each ‘calendar’ year. We might do well to break the shackles of our colonial past and look into what they learned over nearly 100,000 years.
Autumn: The prince of seasons
Alex you and I both probably kicked cans and bottles at a park when we were 6 or 7 years old. But when I was that age and a parent or adult told me to stop I would have done so. Is that a fair point? I can’t defend touching the kid though – that was a brain snap because while nobody would have had a problem with me grabbing one of my u8s players in the team I coach, outside the fence it’s different.
My gripe as an ex-referee? Rubbish signals, and just plain rubbish