The Refs - Have a Whinge and Solve Their Many Problems

[OXY-351]

didn't they try that last year only for the refs to allow it to come back

The problem is they have a crack down on things for a certain period, and then just forget about it. If they just ref'd to the rules every week, they wouldn't have to crack down on things. Players would soon learn.

It annoys me how ref's call things in the game too. Like at scrums they call when the ball is out. Why should they do that? That's not their job. It causes an issue when the ball isn't actually out, yet they can hardly penalise the defending team for being offside when the ref's themselves have said it's out.

They should just concentrate on getting the things they are actually in the game for correct (i.e officiating the rules) rather than all these directons they give players. If a player might do something wrong (i.e be offside chasing a kick), don't give them a warning to try and stop them, just penalise them if they do ultimately break the rules.

The refs are only human, and are going to make mistakes, but they are over complicating their job, and it's leading to more mistakes imo.

 

[azza.79]

Oh. And stop players talking to the refs. If a non captain says a god damned thing to the ref, penalty, send them off, punch them in the face, just do something. Get them blowing correct penalties every time, none of the corrupt KPI square up bullshit, blow it when a rule is broken, once the players respect you, the fans will respect you, and we will go back to not giving a **** about the whistle men.

I couldn't agree more about the respect issue, players do not respect the refs one bit these days because they know what they can get away with most of the time. One thing I think adds to this is the familiarity between refs and players, I hate hearing the refs call players by their name, as far as I see it they should refer to the player by the number on their jersey and as you say the only player to talk to the ref should be the skipper at an appropriate break in play.

They need to get the respect back and that starts with what most of you have already mentioned and actually refereeing the game by the laws of the game, not "managing" the game as it seems they are.

They could start with getting a few of the basics of the game right:

- play the ball on the mark.
- onside.
- kick for touch on the mark.
- correct play the ball.
- behind the kicker at kick off.
- goal line drop out from behind the goal line, not
- penalise blockers on the kick chase.

 

[Dexter]

Agree with nearly all above. The refs are changing the fabric of the game by not enforcing rules but the lack of enforcement has been condoned by inaction from the NRL to step in and set it right.
WTF does Greenburg do? We barely hear from this pretender. He is nothing but a politician and wordsmith papering over cracks when needed.
Archer needs to go for sure but surely he hasn't been left to his own devices to drive the current trend of not enforcing the rules, that must come from above, if not, that means the refs boss decides what our game looks like which can't be right.

I am about as rusted on as fans come but after last weekend I just don't GAF about watching the game anymore.

 

[Aldo]

I very rarely watch any games other than the broncos these days. Just frustrates me too much and I get **** all enjoyment out of the game like I used to. Game has gone to mud and seems to get worse every year.

Too many rules and all the core ones have been tinkered with to the point that it has just ruined the game. Refs are second guessing all the time because of all the changes. The worst thing that has come in is the video ref. Hasn't solved a fucking thing. Biggest waste of money in sporting history.

 

[Nashy]

I don't think I've seen a more pathetic attempt to referee a game than those idiots looking after Melbourne and the Raiders. They are absolutely fucking useless.

 

[Brent81]

Little sick of the refs not enforcing the rules.

Titans v Roosters yesterday, the Titans held the ball in the back of the scrum and all the Roosters broke.

No penalty.

Why?

Every week we see blokes take a tap with blokes in front of them. Instead of awarding a scrum to the other team ref lets them have another go.

Why?

 

[Nashy]

Little sick of the refs not enforcing the rules.

Titans v Roosters yesterday, the Titans held the ball in the back of the scrum and all the Roosters broke.

No penalty.

Why?

Every week we see blokes take a tap with blokes in front of them. Instead of awarding a scrum to the other team ref lets them have another go.

Why?

Last night in the Storm game was a perfect example. Melbourne like to come out of the scrum early, the ref specifically stated that the Storm were to wait for the "out". They went early, he did nothing.

 

[Thelmus]

I just want consisant ruling whether it means 50 penalties a game or 5. The worst thing is for a ref's ruling to change the game contentiously, and with almost every dicission open to interpretation how can they avoid it. One thing I envy of soccer is the cut and dried nature of the rules. Even the yellow and red cards have their application spelt out. With ours you need lawyers.
Try to simplify where possible, aid in interpretation with precedent, and above all give some thought to the guys officiating the game when making them. They should be trialed and NRL refs tested on their application for consistent interpretation. Ideally the rules should be that cut and dried that you don't need to. I know that's not how they work now, with greater weight given to the "flow of the gane", but we're coming to a point where a grandfinal's last moment will be decided by a player reading the refs calls and deliberately playing " momentum" calls or fouling opposition players, knowing the 50/50 calls are theirs.

 

[gordjw]

I just want consisant ruling whether it means 50 penalties a game or 5. The worst thing is for a ref's ruling to change the game contentiously, and with almost every dicission open to interpretation how can they avoid it. One thing I envy of soccer is the cut and dried nature of the rules. Even the yellow and red cards have their application spelt out. With ours you need lawyers.
Try to simplify where possible, aid in interpretation with precedent, and above all give some thought to the guys officiating the game when making them. They should be trialed and NRL refs tested on their application for consistent interpretation. Ideally the rules should be that cut and dried that you don't need to. I know that's not how they work now, with greater weight given to the "flow of the gane", but we're coming to a point where a grandfinal's last moment will be decided by a player reading the refs calls and deliberately playing " momentum" calls or fouling opposition players, knowing the 50/50 calls are theirs.

That's all well and good, but like Nashy and Brent said, they're not even doing that now.

Stay in the scrum until the ball's out is about as clear cut as a rule can get, yet the ref saw the infringement and then still did nothing.

 

[Broncs_Fan]

Why does everyone blame the refs for the state of the game. I more blame the clubs, coaches and players. The game used to be much more free flowing. Now it's about body builders being as conservative as they can in attack and wrestling in defence.

Seriously all the blame can be attributed to the participants trying to get an edge.

 

[Super Freak]

Why does everyone blame the refs for the state of the game. I more blame the clubs, coaches and players. The game used to be much more free flowing. Now it's about body builders being as conservative as they can in attack and wrestling in defence.

Seriously all the blame can be attributed to the participants trying to get an edge.

And that has been allowed to happen because of the poor officiating and poor leadership from the top.

There was a time that stuff didn't happen, because the refs penalized the shit out of it. Now they don't and the clubs decide to exploit it.

Once they decide to start penalizing the wrestle, teams will get the hint eventually.

 

[tommy]

The one I liked last night was the most obvious obstruction you've ever seen. The Canberra defensive line actually stopped for a couple of seconds waiting for them to give the penalty. The commentator said something along the lines of: All 4 officials looked at each other wanting someone else to make the call.

 

[Astro]

Little sick of the refs not enforcing the rules.

Titans v Roosters yesterday, the Titans held the ball in the back of the scrum and all the Roosters broke.

No penalty.

Why?

Every week we see blokes take a tap with blokes in front of them. Instead of awarding a scrum to the other team ref lets them have another go.

Why?

I didn't see the game your talking about but the ball only has to go through the second rows legs for the scrum to be "complete". If the lock traps the ball then it's free game. So the only way for it to be a penalty is to break off before it travels through the second rowers legs.

 

[Foordy]

The one I liked last night was the most obvious obstruction you've ever seen. The Canberra defensive line actually stopped for a couple of seconds waiting for them to give the penalty. The commentator said something along the lines of: All 4 officials looked at each other wanting someone else to make the call.

Didn't Munster make like another 20m after that

 

[Aldo]

It's getting to the point where it's beyond repair. Too many fluffy rules have been brought in and the decent rules they have aren't being officiated properly.

The ruck is an absolute joke at the moment with attacking teams busting their arses to get a quick play the ball, walking off the mark, blatantly dropping the ball in the ruck to get a penalty etc., while the defending team wrestle and choke the life out of the opposition to slow it down, illegal blockers, diving etc.

Nothing will change until the top honchos own up to there being a problem. Until then, it will be the same old shit with teams going out of their way to exploit the rules and the referees to get an edge.

I'm losing a bit of faith every year in anything changing and I can now see why so many fans are moving on from the game

 

[tommy]

Didn't Munster make like another 20m after that

yep

 

[Broncs_Fan]

When do we get a bold coach (as in within the NRL as a whole) who tries to play the game in a more attacking way?

 

[Big Pete]

There was nothing wrong with the Munster incident. He didn't take advantage of the space created for him, he ended up running a different line which has always been play on.