Do referees Influence our game to much?

[Mattrhino]

Just watching the Aus v Leb game on demand and the first try goes like this.

Leb attacking Aus line Klemmer from offside intercepts a pass, Farah then legally strips the ball but is called a penalty to Aus they then kick 40m upfield two forward passes in the build up then score a try.

There is no question in my mind that try is directly the result of officials error. What can be done to change the amount influence the refs have on the game? Or Am i overreacting to a problem that isn't there?

[Phil]

No 

[Mattrhino]

1 minute ago, Phil said:

No 

Really? Care to expand.

I get it is a extremly difficult job to do, but surely we can't have the case that 4 mistakes happen in a lead up to a try.

[Phil]

Just now, Mattrhino said:

Really? Care to expand.

I get it is a extremly difficult job to do, but surely we can't have the case that 4 mistakes happen in a lead up to a try.

Do refs influence our game too much? No they don’t imo 

players make far more mistakes, take the wrong option, drop the ball, miss tackles etc.

 

[Mattrhino]

Just now, Phil said:

Do refs influence our game too much? No they don’t imo 

players make far more mistakes, take the wrong option, drop the ball, miss tackles etc.

 

The question isn't do the players make mistakes. Sure they do and plenty of them. But do you argree that the try I described is a direct result of the officials?

[Phil]

Just now, Mattrhino said:

The question isn't do the players make mistakes. Sure they do and plenty of them. But do you argree that the try I described is a direct result of the officials?

I don’t know I haven’t seen it 

[ivans82]

Referees undoubtedly have a lot of influence on the results of tight Rugby League matches .One unjust ruling on say a ball strip , can result in a try off the resulting 6 tackles which can decide the match . Players rely on refs and touch judges to give them a far crack .

[JohnM]

Bl00dy refs and their decisions.  Who needs 'em? Just let the players do it themselves. In fact, some do try to ref! ???

[Damien]

I think referees have a huge influence in the game.

[Dave T]

Refs have a big influence, but then so they should as they have to manage cheating players and keep order.

They will have to blow the whistle around 50 or 60 times a game at least.

But the sooner we accept that in out game we will have penalties, knock ons, errors etc and they are part of the game then we can get on and enjoy it.

We are obsessed with trying to 'fix' everything in our game to the point that we have at least three sets of pro rules, its no longer a 6 tackle game, and we have Colonel Sanders mug glaring at us like Big Brother before every try is awarded.

RU is awash with penalties. Football jas the ref blowing for free kicks all the time. Same in US Football or Ice Hockey - every game with rules has refs who are prominent.

Sure, appeal, argue or debate individual decisions but we dont need to fix everyyhing.

And on the original decisions, i thought it was 50.50 and on Sky they would have shown it in slow mo so we could know, but they dont seem bothered about accuracy in Australian broadcasting.

[DavidM]

Nowadays yes , but their bosses have a big part in that to 

[Damien]

For me 95% of the issues arise from the tackle area. This is where the real dubious calls and inconsistency comes from. The attacking team is trying to get a huge advantage, as is the defending team and its taken on so much importance in the game. Control the ruck and you can win the match. A referee really has a tough job to police it and I cant see what can be done to improve things. 2 referees doesn't seem too popular as a solution.

I can live with errors, knock-ons, forward passes being missed. It happens. However when a referee is giving very inconsistent penalties for infringements around the ruck, and a team loses a few 50:50 calls at key moments, it can completely swing a match. When these are on the last tackle even more so. I am not saying referees intentionally get it wrong but wrong calls can and do cost a team the match.

[Phil]

I refereed for 23 years up to and including International matches

Just give it a go it’s obviously that easy

ps, you have to get up and run about, you can’t do it from your armchair 

[Tommygilf]

I always have sympathy for refs. Yes they sometimes make sh*t decisions and yes they sometimes fall for it when players try it on. However, a lot of the major issues with refs are when we have players trying to con them or are just in the game with the wrong attitude.

I've watched and played in games where it is clear that at least one side has a few players who are on the pitch to do more than just play rugby. More often than not that comes from the captain and coaches (in junior rugby even the parents). How is a rugby referee supposed to be expected to work in that environment?

These situations often arise with personal grudges, lower vs higher ability teams etc. Classic example being Robbie Farah last week. Spent more time trying to con the ref than playing rugby. 

Refs have a tough enough job as it is; I've turned down doing it on a number of occasions because its high pressure. We don't need to bash them unnecessarily. 

[Lowdesert]

1 hour ago, JohnM said:

Bl00dy refs and their decisions.  Who needs 'em? Just let the players do it themselves. In fact, some do try to ref! ???

To be fair, Cameron Smith is one of the better refs.

[Maximus Decimus]

There is a genuine problem here but not because the incompetency of referees has increased but because their job has become almost impossible.

Due to a number of factors, I recently went a few months watching very little RL. It was only upon watching it again that I realised that at times RL had become quite frustrating to watch and a lot of it was to do with the influence of the referee. The game has become so reliant on their decisions and there are so many made that are 50/50 or completely subjective. 

The problem for me is that the consequences of any decision are disproportionate compared to some sports. We already know the amount of tries that come off the back of penalties and the importance of field position in the sport. Therefore, any wrong decision (and to fans these are numerous) not only creates resentment but has real consequences to the team. In football, it is only the big decisions (penalties, attacking free kicks, red cards etc) that create this level of frustration whereas a normal free kick has little real consequence. In RL, there are far more of these frustrating and influential decisions across a game. It might be a relieving penalty for holding down that was the same as the 10 tackles before or a missed strip when you're team is on the attack that lets the opposition off the hook. This isn't even including those big moments like in football.

I can't comment on Union because I watch very little of it but in my experience they are far more reliant on refereeing than we are and it is one of my big criticisms of the sport especially as their scores are regularly divisible by 3.

I genuinely don't know the answer to it, for a while I thought 2 referees was the answer but then I saw how in Australia they seem to hate it just as much. I personally much prefer when the referees are reluctant to blow their whistle like in the opening game of the WC but I understand how this can be abused and also create frustration.

[Padge]

6 hours ago, Mattrhino said:

Just watching the Aus v Leb game on demand and the first try goes like this.

Leb attacking Aus line Klemmer from offside intercepts a pass, Farah then legally strips the ball but is called a penalty to Aus they then kick 40m upfield two forward passes in the build up then score a try.

There is no question in my mind that try is directly the result of officials error. What can be done to change the amount influence the refs have on the game? Or Am i overreacting to a problem that isn't there?

 

Oh give over, players make more mistakes than refs.

 

[Scubby]

2 hours ago, Lowdesert said:

To be fair, Cameron Smith is one of the better refs.

Will he ever get called for a forward pass in the NRL or Internationals?

[DavidM]

3 minutes ago, Scubby said:

Will he ever get called for a forward pass in the NRL or Internationals?

He wears the cloak of invisibility 

[Scubby]

Just now, DavidM said:

He wears the cloak of invisibility 

Too right. He must get away with at least a handful every game. Legend!

[Lounge Room Lizard]

Yes. But its not really the fault of the match officials but the game itself. When you have different rules for different comps, then its no surprise. Some comp have 2 refs some just one. No wonder Refs make mistakes and have wide differences in the Interpretation of rules. How can you hope to have any consistancy? 

[Man of Kent]

Of course they do.

At this World Cup, we’ve seen English refs struggling to regulate the speed of the PTBs, notably Thaler in Eng v Leb and Child today Aus v Leb. Sloooooow.

And maybe that also speaks of a problem with SL and a lack of intensity. 

[Damien]

3 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Of course they do.

At this World Cup, we’ve seen English refs struggling to regulate the speed of the PTBs, notably Thaler in Eng v Leb and Child today Aus v Leb. Sloooooow.

And maybe that also speaks of a problem with SL and a lack of intensity. 

Speed doesn't equal intensity.

I remember when the PTB was very quick in Super League, quicker than the NRL. This did not mean more intensity.

[Man of Kent]

7 minutes ago, Damien said:

Speed doesn't equal intensity.

I remember when the PTB was very quick in Super League, quicker than the NRL. This did not mean more intensity.

But it influences the game. Slow rucks benefit the inferior side. 

[East Coast Tiger]

It's ###### hilarious that after English refs have been shown up woefully in the WC as simply not good enough we've got excuses galore for them and the usual deflections onto assorted "bloody Aussies". For all the whinging about "bloody Aussies" it's painfully clear where the deficiency lies. It's the same as in the playing standards. The usuals will go into meltdown now but it'll just be further proof that bias and hatred rules 99% of opinions on here. The rfl refs are frankly lucky to get a game at all.