4 replies to this topic

[Philippe Barrau]

http://www.independe...ch-2037791.html

[East Coast Tiger]

Not surprised. I don't know how scientific this study can be with something subjective but from what I've seen the Catalans cop it from refs, especially with penalties. They might push it more than some sides but the refs seem to ping them more readily than others because they have a reputation for it.

[Red Willow]

So someone who has no background of RL says refs are biased? how does that work then? Have they looked at whether the pens were justified.

Cats have an advantage/disadvantaged as all home games are video reffed

[ckn]

So someone who has no background of RL says refs are biased? how does that work then? Have they looked at whether the pens were justified.

Cats have an advantage/disadvantaged as all home games are video reffed

I agree with much of that but having reffed a foreign side myself I know the additional pressures the refs are under. For example, if an English-speaking player does something borderline, a ref might have a quiet word with him as he runs past, it's far harder with someone who has English as a second language as it forces the ref to spend more mental time constructing the sentence into easily understandable language. I know from my assessing experience that a ref who is unsure around communications often moves to penalties a lot faster than highly competent communicators.

It would be genuinely interesting having this study done again by someone who completely understands the game and has post-game access to the officials' mic recordings to see whether it can be diagnosed as a communications issue or if there is another cause.

[Bulliac]

Not surprised. I don't know how scientific this study can be with something subjective but from what I've seen the Catalans cop it from refs, especially with penalties. They might push it more than some sides but the refs seem to ping them more readily than others because they have a reputation for it.

I think Les Cats do push it a bit. I guess they feel if they get away with a few they can overcome the odd extra penalty or three. If you get a reputation for something it does inevitably follow you around; not just in sport but in life. Get a repution for being 'light fingered' and where do people look first when something goes missing? As they say in France; C'est la vie.