Robert Hicks proves Bernard Guasch right

[dealwithit]

The investment in match officials in the northern hemisphere is incredibly poor. Everyone loses from this -- including teams that win trophies. 

[idrewthehaggis]

Watching the Grand Final reminded me of my mate Tommy from Ordsall describing playing rugby when he was a kid.

He'd recall that every time they played someone who they defined as "posh" (which is probably everyone given where he came from ) they would identify their best players and basically use every tactic -legal and illegal- to "punish" them. 

The game is not like the 80's anymore. But let us be clear some players and teams are what might be called "cute minded professionals."

You know some  are very skilled at having a stray man slyly offside at the PTB, or "loitering" in obstruction as as the opposition goes forward. Both in such ways to be missed by officialdom.

So when the loose elbow to the throat and the head shot after the tackle went in, I was taken back to those memories. It worked a treat.

Think about it. Refereeing is in a crisis. No conspiracy, just a #### up. 

We have the senior ref on long term sick leave after false accusations were made after he officiated when a top 3 team lost.

There is a ref who works for a local authority who have a financial interest in a top 3 club.

Another who seems to be excluded from finals after a chairman criticized him after that team lost that final.

A referee whose controversial decisions have swung the result of two very close finals in favour of top three clubs.

And where did the soldier boy officials retreat to?

I would import a dozen Aus refs in as they couldn't do worse.

[unapologetic pedant]

1 hour ago, redjonn said:

Gosh at Old Trafford behind the post with the Catalan flags had people screaming off side at times... now how on earth can you see from high up behind the sticks one wonders.

The best place to watch a game if you want to make absolutely sure that every pass is "a mile forward" is from behind the goal post.

[unapologetic pedant]

13 hours ago, The Daddy said:

I'm delighted that Toulouse won, but I'm absolutely flabbergasted and disgusted that Featherstone's first try was awarded and wasn't even sent for review by the video ref. 

Someone please explain to me how that wasn't an obstruction, it just baffles me when referees make those types of decisions. 

I haven`t seen the incident, so this is a general comment.

We have to distinguish passive errors from active errors. There is a vast difference in logic between missing something that did happen and calling something which didn`t happen.

I don`t even regard it as an error if the officials miss things like obstructions, knock-ons, forward passes, ball steals. These should only be called if the ref is certain he has seen them. Any reasonable doubt, and the correct call is " play on". It`s only a genuine error when the ref blows his whistle to call something which didn`t happen.

Your primary gripe seems to be that the video ref wasn`t consulted. In my view, the ref should apply the same general rationale and ask for a review only if he has seen something specific. The alternative is to automatically send every try to the VR so he can spend several minutes looking for a reason to reverse the on-field decision.

[Barley Mow]

1 hour ago, Agbrigg said:

Correct now we have 2 French clubs in SL it's important that we also get a representative proprtion of match officials. As far as I am aware all Catalan home games are officiated by English refs and TJ's. Surely some of their best refs needed to be blooded as TJ's asap in order to help get them up to a good standard.  Seems ages since 'uncle Albert' was taking control of SL games

 

3 hours ago, Scubby said:

I think the solution is to get at least 2-3 French referees into the system so there is a rotation of officiating. That means that English clubs sometimes get French refs and French clubs sometimes get French refs. Then it will become obvious who the best person for the job is when it comes to big occasions.

This is not new and I remember Trent Robinson providing statistics on referee decisions when he was coach at Catalans. English refs may not be biased but when there is no comparison it is an easy complaint to go to. 

Bernard is a fiery character at the best of times  I can't say it is too different from International games, England and the Sutton brothers.

Ideally this would be a solution (possibly alongside SL being run with the same level of control/input from the French federation as the RFL, plus the governing body of any other team in the competition at any future time).

However I think I recall a post on another thread within the last week or so that said that there are only 19 qualified referees in the whole of French RL. Taking one or more of them for SL matches during the cross over between the two seasons would leave French RL in an even worse position - That's before we even consider how many current French refs might meet the standards set for SL (note that Guasch suggested an Australian rather than French ref).

[RayCee]

3 hours ago, David Shepherd said:

Your thread title would suggest otherwise. As would hyperbole like "flabbergasted and disgusted"

The identical thread to this was started by The Daddy on a French language website. To do so knowing how many (but not all I hasten to add, some are very reasonable and fair minded) are already paranoid about English arbitration came across to me as provocative. Can this game find yet more ways to hurt itself internally? Apparently so. I think I have happier things to do than watch this sort of stuff unfold.  

[Wakefield Ram]

Having lived in France, this is just part of the French Rugby Union theory of an  Anglo-Saxon conspiracy against the French. As though the Scots, Welsh and Irish just love the English in RU. 

It's about as real as the global conspiracy against Featherstone and Derek Beaumont that some seem to believe in

[The Daddy]

40 minutes ago, RayCee said:

The identical thread to this was started by The Daddy on a French language website. To do so knowing how many (but not all I hasten to add, some are very reasonable and fair minded) are already paranoid about English arbitration came across to me as provocative. Can this game find yet more ways to hurt itself internally? Apparently so. I think I have happier things to do than watch this sort of stuff unfold.  

Why should I not post this topic on any site I choose to? 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

I see that the England -v- France internationals in Perpignan will see the refereeing responsibilities shared between the two nations.  Benjamin Casty (Remi's brother) will take charge of the men's game, with Andrew Pilkington for the women's.  Robert Hicks is the video ref for both.

I am glad Casty went back to refereeing after that appalling assault he suffered at the hands of a young thug he had just sent off some years ago.

[ATLANTISMAN]

Fantastic he is back refereing  again,it's a shame France will be missing several key players.

Hopefully this will be the start of regular tests again i know that the French federation are keen.

 

Paul