The Blues Ox

Im not sure the point Lingard is trying to make and it seems he is going to have a fun season complaining about match officials when he may be better spending his time coaching his team. The final decision is always with the ref on the pitch when it comes to anything apart from video ref decisions. For other decisions like with linesman decisions the ref can either choose to go with the advice or against it. Agree with this. I think Smith is slightly unlucky as its one of those momentum tackles but its the fact he didnt release that would have me giving it as a red rather than a yellow. I think the ref got the Ellis decision right and it is not really comparable with the Watts sending off but having watched the slow motion replay of that I still think it should have been 2 cards, Westerman was at the very least reckless and made contact with the Wigan players head where as Watts is as clear a red card as you will see no matter what rules we are playing to. The reaction from the cas coaching staff is the reason I think they are going to have a lot of problems this season with their discipline.

Hang on Tom Holmes says players will retire from the game if they are no longer allowed to tackle like that without getting a card.

There is a slow motion replay of the sending off which shows Westerman was also direct contact with the head and should have also been a sending off. I think he could be in trouble as well.

And a red coming up in the Cats game for similar tackle.

Craig Linguard's reaction is certainly the funniest thing Ive seen so far this season. I mean he has access to multiple replays and still gives that reaction. it's as clear a red card as you will see this season. I also thought Smith should be a red as it was a deliberate lifting and no release action that could have resulted in a terible injury. I would not be surprised to see him kop a ban for that.

I would suggest that Tramadol is pretty tame in some changing rooms especially as you go lower down the leagues. The thing is though, the game is so physical that the players are always going to be taking pain killers of some sorts and like mentioned briefly in that article they are going to need something to help them sleep after games as well. I really don't know what the game can do in that regard. If it isn't tramadol it will be something else.

I can see both sides of the argument for if Sao should have been red carded by the letter of the law but I just asked myself can we say for certain that he could control his reaction? I mean lets change the body part and say somebody is grabbing your nuts, I can't say I know a single person who could control his reaction to that situation. I think the retaliator been punished is a very outdated rule.

I saw a number of Pennine League games last season played in worse conditions that didn't have as many mistakes. You think the first games have been of a decent standard especially the Hull V KR game? I don't expect elite play in the early rounds but I expect pro players to be able to catch a ball and have decent grip, I mean did either of these teams do any work on the basics in the off season? It certainly didn't appear that way.

The slow motion video is great to watch and highlights that Parcell should have been red carded as his action, even if it's not a clear gouge, is forceful and deliberate contact with an opponents head and could be interpreted as a twisting motion which is potentially very dangerous. I would be surprised if there isn't more heard about that.

Personally think the refs have done a good job so far but the only thing that will blow RL's big chance is the quality of the product on the pitch which in the 2 games I have watched so far has been pretty poor.

Its a fine line but I think the tone that Liam Moore uses towards the players would make him a ref that you enjoyed having ref your matches.

Yeah I agree that Sao's act was deliberate and probably bore out of frustration, anger, red mist but the ref's were also briefed about mitigating circumstances in the run up to the season which could be interpreted as giving them the option to use a little bit of common sense on some decisions and some of that you could hear from the officials during the game, so in my opinion this was one of those times and there has to be a human element included somewhere along the line as I think its unfair to ask athletes to not respond to provocation but it is a very fine line. Other than that though I thought the interpretations of the rules were good and it was a promising start in that respect despite the actual poor standard of the game itself.

Abysmal skill levels on show last night from both sets of players and the game as a whole was of a really poor standard, there really should not be that many dropped balls and mistakes even at this early stage of the season. Hopefully tonights games show that this was just a one off and a bit of stage fright for both of these teams. Very well officiated game though although I do think they got the last sending off wrong, for me thats a red Hull KR and a yellow Hull FC but it made no difference to the result and I expect the disciplinary will see it that way and its more likely the KR player gets a ban than the FC player.

I would agree that Liam Moore had a really good game last night on the whole, I thought he was effective and calm when dealing with situations and his explanations to players in stoppages and on the move was very good. Unfortunatley I had to leave the house with about 15 minutes to go so I didn't get to see the second sending off and only heard about it on Twitter. I watched the video with no sound on and for a moment thought it was the KR player who got the red but then remembered it was a FC player. I think the officials got that one wrong although Ive not heard the explanations but Parcell makes deliberate and forceful contact with the FC players head and there is also the question regarding a gouge. Personally I think that is a red for KR and sit the FC player for ten just to try and say retaliation is not acceptable. Other than that I were really impressed by the officials last night.

I do think its a great idea having the almost final results before the Grand Finals, last thing we would want is the results after the finals and say Cas had lost in the Grand Final they then find out that winning the Grand Final would have kept them in SL, they would be gutted.

This has to be the way forward hasn't it? Some how appoint extra moderators for the match threads, there are enough respectable posters on here for that to happen and then anyone abusing their mod power can also be reported and face a removal of moderator privledges/ban.

Regards contracts that makes it sound like it may only be enforced for players who are signing new contracts, Im not sure they could force someone already under contract to sign an ammended contract if they did not wish to. Again its all a bit wishy washy.

Because if they have to go off for a HIA then a qualified doctor will rule if they are passed fit to return to the field or not. If they are passed fit there is no reason they should be forbidden from returning to the field. I think we will see a lot of players still playing without mouthguards despite this new ruling.

Another strange decision by the RFL especially not allowing players who don't wear the mouthguards back on to the pitch if they need a HIA. That has to fall around a restriction of trade or discrimination line hasn't it?

Oldham second favs has to be one of the biggest over reactions I can remember in a little while. York at 50/1 stands out as they are nailed on to get best runner up and although there won't be a market to lay against, if they did make the final then you could probably guarentee a bit of profit with a bet on Wakey.

Great news for teams like Siddal who constantly lose players to the pro ranks and this will, if the SL teams allow, let those players continue to play at their amateur team which in cases like Siddal will be a better standard than either playing reserve team rugby or going out on loan to a League 2 team.

Sorry you spelt Halifax wrong but nevermind we decided to let other teams have a chance this season

What am I missing here? Has he just blatently ripped off someone elses work? I do admire the starting line saying how difficult it were to put together though. That will throw the kids of the scent.

And looks like they still are. We are on course to have close to 12 grade A teams within a couple of years. When we set the bar so low we are saying mediocracy is an acceptable.

Its going to be the first time in many a year where fans of teams in a cup competition will be thinking "Please not Wakefield, please not Wakefield".