Fax away

[The Blues Ox]

20 hours ago, graham fisher said:

I didn’t go to the game but after watching  the game through YouTube I think the referee was right in majority of his decisions,especially the messing around at ptb. I know Simon Grix wasn’t happy with the officiating but their discipline was poor and that’s down to the coach. Murrell actually chelps at the referee more than Sykes and that takes some doing.

Murrell's talking to the ref is quite a bit different to Sykes. 

[Wakefield Ram]

On 23/02/2020 at 09:03, DOGFATHER said:

Reffing to the letter of the law is not really the point I was getting at, of course a little common sense should be taken. But anyone who has watched the game will have noticed, there are a few teams and certain players that have traits that are quite obviously using ploys to gain an advantage, and they are the ones that really need sorting out. Yet nothing seems to be done about it, like Leigh under Rowley and Rochdale slowing the game down under Kilshaw. This is where the refs are not strong enough and basically condone te activities. O'Loughlin has never tackled anyone below the chin in his career, yet I've never seen him sent off for it and is rarely even penalised for it.

The refs also have the team warning for repeated offences, why not use it? That would mean teams smartened their act up or suffer the consequences.

What I find frustrating is the inconsistency within a game, if the ref is playing a rule then play to it, do not just blow infringements arbitrarily. Watching the WCC last night, I've no bias to either team, Kendal blew 3 forward passes in the game all against Saints, the very marginal one just before halftime was a game changer too. Sydney scored two tries off of them which were far worse and he didn't give those or the huge number that they threw in the game. I've no time for Saints, but why be inconsistent, most were very obvious?

Holding down in the tackle was another example, and this is not limited to just him, other refs have been guilty of the same. On some occasions they will shout the tackle number, then Held, then Hold a couple of times, then Release, then sometimes even call a player by name to tell them to get off, but not give a penalty, the tackle can take 10 seconds to complete. On other occasions, they will simply shout release, if the tackler doesn't get off immediately, he gives a penalty with no further warning, when only 1 or 2 seconds have passed, why the inconsistency? It makes such a big difference to the game as one team is allowed to attack before the defense is set, but the other team isn't.

 

O'Loughlin has never tackled anyone below the chin in his career, yet I've never seen him sent off for it and is rarely even penalised for it.  - I agree, should have been sent off but to be fair he did get penalised. And agree about Rowley and Kilshaw.

I watched the WCC match and don't agre with your view. Thought Kendall had a decent game, though overall I thought he allowed Roosters to lie on more than Saints and certainly allowed Friend too much backchat.

As a ref you have to make thousands of decisions in a game (4800 seconds in a game) and laying on in the tackle is the biggest blot on the game. But all teams do it to an extent. I don't agree with the referee having to tell the players when to move, but guess that was coaches complaining about "lack of consistency". An individual referee couldn't start penalising backchat for example when every other ref allows it.

What it would need is for the Head of Referees with the agreement of the clubs to state clearly that lying on in the tackle will not be tolerated for example. And then implement it. In reality, the clubs might agree with whatever the latest crackdown is, but as soon as they start getting penalised, the coaches start grumbling and they go back to the old ways.

Getting rid of backchat, laying on, grapple tackles and head-high tackles would make our game much better to watch and play, but sadly the RFL lack the leadership and gumption to do it. They are too in hock to the leading clubs.

 

[DOGFATHER]

5 minutes ago, Wakefield Ram said:

O'Loughlin has never tackled anyone below the chin in his career, yet I've never seen him sent off for it and is rarely even penalised for it.  - I agree, should have been sent off but to be fair he did get penalised. And agree about Rowley and Kilshaw.

I watched the WCC match and don't agre with your view. Thought Kendall had a decent game, though overall I thought he allowed Roosters to lie on more than Saints and certainly allowed Friend too much backchat.

As a ref you have to make thousands of decisions in a game (4800 seconds in a game) and laying on in the tackle is the biggest blot on the game. But all teams do it to an extent. I don't agree with the referee having to tell the players when to move, but guess that was coaches complaining about "lack of consistency". An individual referee couldn't start penalising backchat for example when every other ref allows it.

What it would need is for the Head of Referees with the agreement of the clubs to state clearly that lying on in the tackle will not be tolerated for example. And then implement it. In reality, the clubs might agree with whatever the latest crackdown is, but as soon as they start getting penalised, the coaches start grumbling and they go back to the old ways.

Getting rid of backchat, laying on, grapple tackles and head-high tackles would make our game much better to watch and play, but sadly the RFL lack the leadership and gumption to do it. They are too in hock to the leading clubs.

 

I completely agree with you regarding the highlighted sections. The top is where the problems stem from, strong leadership from Ganson is required, no turning back, that is the rule and we are sticking with it. But it is sadly lacking by the looks of things and the individual refs are left carrying the can for most of it, which is unfair on them.

I watched the WCC match and don't agre with your view. Thought Kendall had a decent game, though overall I thought he allowed Roosters to lie on more than Saints and certainly allowed Friend too much backchat.

It is things like the inconsistency around laying on at the PTB, (which you noticed as well), that tends to decide results though. That is my problem with many of the refs, they are directly, or indirectly deciding results. As a fan of the game, I just want the game to be decided by the players, is that too much to ask?

[Dog Faced Gremlin]

All good points. But surely coaches have to take some responsibility for the refs predicament? Even at amateur the first thing you're told to do in a match is to lay on to test the ref. And every move now is as close to a forward pass, obstruction or just a shepherd as they think they can get away with. And dont get me started on back chat and play acting.