Referees

[rugbylad09]

I don’t want to be one of them people that calls out referees as it’s the most difficult job with little reward, but I have seen some questionable performances this season, and a decision today which not only changed a game, but could be the worst decision I’ve seen all season. at west bowling vs hunslet the Hunslet player charged down a kick and looked set to score to seal the match. The ref has called a knock on &off the back west bowling score and win the game (also through a forward pass earlier on but they are hard to see at the best of times and occur frequently at community level).

do referees reflect/meet around their performance? Especially as they wear head cams. this definitely puts Hunslet out of the top 2 race and now gives them an uphill battle for 3rd so big implications. 
side note though, west bowling stuck to the task but had a massive rub of the green on their side 

the main purpose of this is to mainly question do referees have meetings around their performances as I know the RFL use headcam footage in disciplinary meetings 

Edited July 28, 2024 by rugbylad09

[Impartial Observer]

11 hours ago, rugbylad09 said:

I don’t want to be one of them people that calls out referees as it’s the most difficult job with little reward, but I have seen some questionable performances this season, and a decision today which not only changed a game, but could be the worst decision I’ve seen all season. at west bowling vs hunslet 2mins to go the Hunslet player charged down a kick and looked set to score to seal the match. The ref has called a knock on &off the back of which west bowling score to win the game (also through a forward pass earlier on but they are hard to see at the best of times and occur frequently at community level).

do referees reflect/meet around their performance? Especially as they wear head cams. this definitely puts Hunslet out of the top 2 race and now gives them an uphill battle for 3rd so big implications. 
side note though, west bowling stuck to the task but had a massive rub of the green on their side 

the main purpose of this is to mainly question do referees have meetings around their performances as I know the RFL use headcam footage in disciplinary meetings 

A couple of decisions in one game doesn't really affect if you fininish in the top two if you have lost 4 games and drawn two before this. Key players having long bans wouldn't help either.

[rugbylad09]

3 minutes ago, Impartial Observer said:

A couple of decisions in one game doesn't really affect if you fininish in the top two if you have lost 4 games and drawn two before this. Key players having long bans wouldn't help either.

agree. the Rochdale draw was also very questionable if you have seen the tries they put out after each game. The thread is more a point of do referees get judged or have reviews as they are very basic decisions which they should not be getting wrong, a lot of decisions will have some sort of * around it with touch judges not been there & what not but the 2 referenced here were very clearly wrong where the ref had a very clear view. Because for context they should be 3 points better off of which a point extra on Rochdale which then puts a different spin on things

im just curious on if referees use the head cam footage themselves really

[Cumbria1]

14 hours ago, rugbylad09 said:

I don’t want to be one of them people that calls out referees as it’s the most difficult job with little reward, but I have seen some questionable performances this season, and a decision today which not only changed a game, but could be the worst decision I’ve seen all season. at west bowling vs hunslet the Hunslet player charged down a kick and looked set to score to seal the match. The ref has called a knock on &off the back west bowling score and win the game (also through a forward pass earlier on but they are hard to see at the best of times and occur frequently at community level).

do referees reflect/meet around their performance? Especially as they wear head cams. this definitely puts Hunslet out of the top 2 race and now gives them an uphill battle for 3rd so big implications. 
side note though, west bowling stuck to the task but had a massive rub of the green on their side 

the main purpose of this is to mainly question do referees have meetings around their performances as I know the RFL use headcam footage in disciplinary meetings 

Swings and roundabouts you get some calls and you don’t. I ref local up in Cumbria and we have no linesmen at our games, To be able to see everything is hard and like players sometimes refs make a wrong call but once the call has been given it cannot be changed.

 

Doesn’t matter if your not gonna get top two, From what I have seen of Hunslet a match for anyone on there day

[rugbylad09]

2 hours ago, Cumbria1 said:

Swings and roundabouts you get some calls and you don’t. I ref local up in Cumbria and we have no linesmen at our games, To be able to see everything is hard and like players sometimes refs make a wrong call but once the call has been given it cannot be changed.

 

Doesn’t matter if your not gonna get top two, From what I have seen of Hunslet a match for anyone on there day

Yeah of course. I used to ref juniors from time to time but stopped due to work commitments and it is impossible to see everything. My point was around headcam footage for reviews to try to cut out some of these calls as they are extremely basic. I think tough calls whilst annoying can be understood & with no linesmen especially but very simple and clear ones should be explained when wrong. Or the referee apologising/acknowledging. I think it would go a long way to increasing respect. Everyone makes mistakes but it’s the lack of accountability of them when very basic which is impacting the relationship further

[Northern Eel]

On 28/07/2024 at 16:02, rugbylad09 said:

Yeah of course. I used to ref juniors from time to time but stopped due to work commitments and it is impossible to see everything. My point was around headcam footage for reviews to try to cut out some of these calls as they are extremely basic. I think tough calls whilst annoying can be understood & with no linesmen especially but very simple and clear ones should be explained when wrong. Or the referee apologising/acknowledging. I think it would go a long way to increasing respect. Everyone makes mistakes but it’s the lack of accountability of them when very basic which is impacting the relationship further

I would imagine some community refs will review their performance after games, but the default really should be that they shouldn't need to feel that they should be 'building respect' from players and supporters. I would say that simply doing their best, looking to always improve, is spot on. I also don't get this 'apologising' business. We don't go and press-gang players who drop the ball, or can't control their discipline, or miss a tackle, or mis-judge a kick; we seem to be ok with this and brush it away. (which is probably a good thing too) An apology for something they didn't see at the time doesn't really solve any issues.

I have reffed games regularly, and at times have thought I had had a great game, missing nothing, only to be told about things that have gone on that I have simply not seen. It's not necessarily that I am a bad ref, it is just that, even only a couple of metres away from the play, you can still miss things, or see it differently from a different angle. 

Refs don't usually lose games, players do. 

[The Future is League]

On 28/07/2024 at 08:02, rugbylad09 said:

I don’t want to be one of them people that calls out referees as it’s the most difficult job with little reward, but I have seen some questionable performances this season, and a decision today which not only changed a game, but could be the worst decision I’ve seen all season. at west bowling vs hunslet the Hunslet player charged down a kick and looked set to score to seal the match. The ref has called a knock on &off the back west bowling score and win the game (also through a forward pass earlier on but they are hard to see at the best of times and occur frequently at community level).

do referees reflect/meet around their performance? Especially as they wear head cams. this definitely puts Hunslet out of the top 2 race and now gives them an uphill battle for 3rd so big implications. 
side note though, west bowling stuck to the task but had a massive rub of the green on their side 

the main purpose of this is to mainly question do referees have meetings around their performances as I know the RFL use headcam footage in disciplinary meetings 

As you would be aware the RFL are always looking for people to become match day officials. If you know of any players or former players who think they could become refs recommend them to the RFL site. The RFL welcomes any potential refs.