THE 2025 Super League season was supposed to be a revolutionary one in terms of the new Captain’s Challenge ruling.
Brought in ahead of the new campaign following its success in the NRL, the Captain’s Challenge gives teams the opportunity to dispute a referee’s call and, as such, the video referee is called into play.
However, in the opening rounds of Super League so far, games have been blighted by ridiculous lengths of time analysing a Captain’s Challenge.
In Castleford Tigers’ 22-14 win over Salford Red Devils on Friday night, there were three Captain’s Challenges by Salford Red Devils – two of which were successful.
Video referee Ben Thaler uhmmed and ahhed for a number of minutes before giving the decision to on-field referee Chris Kendall.
With two of Castleford’s tries disallowed on the night as well by Thaler, the game finished 15 minutes later than what it should have done thanks to all the stoppages.
There is, of course, a necessity to get things right but the NRL seems to be able to do that in a much shorter space of time.
Hence, there should be a time limit on video refereeing decisions across the board – for try referrals and Captain’s Challenges – otherwise fans present and viewers can get frustrated and the spectacle is diminished as a whole.
That doesn’t mean a video referee has to rush their decision-making process, but a two-minute limit for example, could increase the urgency and not halt the momentum of what is happening on the field.
There is also the point of a Captain’s Challenge being inconclusive. Surely if the challenge is inconclusive then it is unsuccessful and the referee’s on-field decision stands?
That was Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam’s point in the aftermath of his side’s 22-22 draw to Hull FC on Thursday night.
Video referee Jack Smith spent an age trying to decide whether Hull winger Tom Briscoe had put a foot on the line when catching a Leigh kick-off on the full, only to make the wrong call in the end.
Something needs to be done so early on in the season in order to ensure the new ruling doesn’t descend into farce.
