WITHOUT them, there would be no sport but referees are some of the most targeted in terms of abuse on social media.
Abusive language, threats and even death threats can plague the inboxes of rugby league officials.
Though Super League referee Aaron Moore has not personally had death threats, he knows his peers certainly have.
“We’ve all had it where you get the personal messages on Facebook and Twitter saying you are all sorts of different things,” Moore told League Express.
“I’ve not personally had death threats like some of my colleagues have which isn’t nice to see. Some of them have had police matters, I’ve not had that touch wood but I’ve had the messages.
“They aren’t nice but you learn to get on with it. You know as a referee you are in the firing line, it doesn’t make it acceptable but we know things on twitter will be said like ‘Moore’s done it again’ it come with the territory.
“I just wish people knew how much we want to get the decision right. Looking back at games, a review is a minimum of three to four hours of watching a game.”
Moore emphasised that officials are the people that want to get the decisions right more than anybody.
“We look at every single call and do a review with our coach. Nobody wants to get that forward pass wrong or miss the knock on.
“When there are some many rucks and calls in a game, people don’t realise we have the tackle count, holding the defensive line, watching the ruck and then something might happen in the ruck itself.
“I just want to reiterate the message that no one wants to get the calls right more than us.”
In recent years, the debate about a video referee at every game has surfaced. That is something which Moore would support, but he knows that finances within the game would limit that.
“A video referee at every game would help us – no doubt having a video referee is definitely a perk if you can have somebody helping you.
“But, ultimately it comes down to finance and I think that sits in the game’s hands. I don’t think any referee would sit here and say there’s no point in having a video referee. If they did, they would be lying.
