Refs think they are rock stars

[The Who]

Yet another round where refs thought they were the stars of the show, giving soft as butter penalties, six-agains, and decisions that manage the result. Pulling out the 'blocker' rule when Newcastle had "beaten" Cronulla to ensure the ref would be the point of discussion. . . . Wow!
Our sport has become so confusing -- thanks to continual rule changes, interpretations by The Bunker, and power hungry officials -- that the best team is no longer winning matches.
Q: What is the best match we've seen all season?
A: The third SOO. Why? Because the ref minimised his involvement, let the match flow and the match came to a worthy and rightful result.
I long for the days when RL rules were simple to follow, and the refs had more of a feel for the game. Now we are getting penalties for accidental bumps; we are having players feign injuries because they know there is a good chance they'll receive an Oscar-penalty. RL has become a cross between RU and soccer, with a reality TV narrative where they think spectators need a close match to gain enjoyment.

 

[Captain Moondog]

They've made a great game almost totally unwatchable......annual rule changes, random interpretations, ambiguous decisions...thank Christ we've got Graham Annesley to make everything perfectly clear.

 

[globaleagle]

You're not rock stars!!!!

 

[Waz13]

Yet another round where refs thought they were the stars of the show, giving soft as butter penalties, six-agains, and decisions that manage the result. Pulling out the 'blocker' rule when Newcastle had "beaten" Cronulla to ensure the ref would be the point of discussion. . . . Wow!
Our sport has become so confusing -- thanks to continual rule changes, interpretations by The Bunker, and power hungry officials -- that the best team is no longer winning matches.
Q: What is the best match we've seen all season?
A: The third SOO. Why? Because the ref minimised his involvement, let the match flow and the match came to a worthy and rightful result.
I long for the days when RL rules were simple to follow, and the refs had more of a feel for the game. Now we are getting penalties for accidental bumps; we are having players feign injuries because they know there is a good chance they'll receive an Oscar-penalty. RL has become a cross between RU and soccer, with a reality TV narrative where they think spectators need a close match to gain enjoyment.

And the ref dragged the sharks back into that game even before the farce at the end.

Officiating in the sport is diabolical.

 

[HoldenV8]

The referees left a bit to be desired this weekend.

ACTION: Turbo placed the ball on the ground and never let go of it until he rolled it back and played it with his foot, all while a defender illegally held onto his other leg.
RESULT: Penalty against Turbo for an incorrect play the ball......

ACTION: The last pass that would have seen Souths defeat the Tigers. It didn't look even close to forward.
RESULT: Forward pass called

ACTION: Will Kennedy called offside by the bunker. That's where it should have ended.....
RESULT: Badger in the bunker somehow immediately ignores her own call of offside and awards Kennedy a penalty because despite he was clearly offside trying to charge down Ponga's FG attempt, his illegal run was partially blocked ... The wrongly given penalty sent the game into Golden Point.

 

[rj90]

ACTION: The last pass that would have seen Souths defeat the Tigers. It didn't look even close to forward.
RESULT: Forward pass called

It was very clearly forward lol.

 

[HoldenV8]

It was very clearly forward lol.

Not for mine.

Look, I hate Souths as much as anyone. And as my dad was a lifelong Balmain fan I do have a soft spot for the Tigers except when we play them. But I can't see how that was a forward pass.

For the record, other than that I thought Belinda Sharpe had an OK game on Saturday night. Can't say the same for Butler at Brookie on Friday though. However, as bad as he was at least he was an equal opportunity screwup. Just like we did, plenty of Wahs fans vented anger towards Butler for his performance.

 

[joeboy]

The refs are incompetent and human error will always be part of the game, but the edict to manage games from annersley et al and the changing rules/grey areas//interpretations/inconsistency is what gets me.

They need to strip it all back, the coaches need to coach to the spirit of the game rather than looking for competitive edge ( cheating) in everything. Commentators need to not dwell on mistakes made in real time. These two things would have a massive effect on things

Simple rules for a simple game.

Penalise obvious forward passes. They will stop

Walk off the mark - penalty

Feign injury- go for HIA.

Get the rubbish out and we have our great game still there

Ps the pass by south’s was forward and the one the ruck before to give them field position was even more forward.

The knights end of game was a debacle

 

[eagle66]

Oscar penalty. Love it

 

[Tragic Eagle]

The NRL need to reel these referees into line. They are paid to apply the rules not decide what they will and what they won' adjudicate upon.. Discretion has absolutely no place in refereeing. Refereeing decisions are determining outcomes of games far far too often nowadays.

There would be no need for crackdowns in respect of certain breaches if the rules were applied consistently throughout the season. The play the ball has become a joke it looks like tunnel ball and tackled players often take steps forward off the mark taking the markers out of play without sanction particularly against us. Some teams lay all over tacklers without sanction and the moment our blokes hit the deck you can hear the referee screaming get off. Players lay around the ruck after making a tackle interfering with the dummy half often without sanction. It is becoming a very frustrating game to watch. Notwithstanding the number of officials and the technology available the inconsistency and the number of dud calls is totally unsatisfactory. IMO Annesley's weekly rhetoric doesn't change a thing.

 

[jamesie]

Yet another round where refs thought they were the stars of the show, giving soft as butter penalties, six-agains, and decisions that manage the result. Pulling out the 'blocker' rule when Newcastle had "beaten" Cronulla to ensure the ref would be the point of discussion. . . . Wow!
Our sport has become so confusing -- thanks to continual rule changes, interpretations by The Bunker, and power hungry officials -- that the best team is no longer winning matches.
Q: What is the best match we've seen all season?
A: The third SOO. Why? Because the ref minimised his involvement, let the match flow and the match came to a worthy and rightful result.
I long for the days when RL rules were simple to follow, and the refs had more of a feel for the game. Now we are getting penalties for accidental bumps; we are having players feign injuries because they know there is a good chance they'll receive an Oscar-penalty. RL has become a cross between RU and soccer, with a reality TV narrative where they think spectators need a close match to gain enjoyment.

You get my early "Post of the Year" vote. Could not agree any more with you.

 

[BOZO]

The Rock Star perspective ....
Who ever is capable of being flawless may take the floor and cast the first Rock

Each game we see dropped balls , missed tackles , wrong options and the only people that some people think can only do wrong are the refs
Pathetic Hypocrisy at its best

 

[Waz13]

Not for mine.

Look, I hate Souths as much as anyone. And as my dad was a lifelong Balmain fan I do have a soft spot for the Tigers except when we play them. But I can't see how that was a forward pass.

For the record, other than that I thought Belinda Sharpe had an OK game on Saturday night. Can't say the same for Butler at Brookie on Friday though. However, as bad as he was at least he was an equal opportunity screwup. Just like we did, plenty of Wahs fans vented anger towards Butler for his performance.

Def forward for mine mate. Noting as well they let an absolute howler go in the lead up. Was either Walker or Weighton that threw it two plays prior.

 

[Waz13]

The NRL need to reel these referees into line. They are paid to apply the rules not decide what they will and what they won' adjudicate upon.. Discretion has absolutely no place in refereeing. Refereeing decisions are determining outcomes of games far far too often nowadays.

There would be no need for crackdowns in respect of certain breaches if the rules were applied consistently throughout the season. The play the ball has become a joke it looks like tunnel ball and tackled players often take steps forward off the mark taking the markers out of play without sanction particularly against us. Some teams lay all over tacklers without sanction and the moment our blokes hit the deck you can hear the referee screaming get off. Players lay around the ruck after making a tackle interfering with the dummy half often without sanction. It is becoming a very frustrating game to watch. Notwithstanding the number of officials and the technology available the inconsistency and the number of dud calls is totally unsatisfactory. IMO Annesley's weekly rhetoric doesn't change a thing.

I really don’t get the lack of policing of the play the ball. Get up and roll it back with and touching your foot. If you don’t touch it, handover! Who the f$&@ thought and implemented just motioning a touch with the foot was sufficient. It’s one of the most basic and fundamental rules in the sport.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Let’s face it , in a lot of games they determine who wins , and the OP is dead right the best game all year , SOO 3 when the whistle was placed firmly up the referee’s bum!

You see it in every game , one side given all the penalties / 6 agains and not much of a surprise to see them leading , then the momentum changes as the other side gets them all.

Makes for an exciting game , for the broadcasters.

 

[robbiea]

I feel ever since the took the 2nd ref away right out from under their nose ,they have had an even bigger chip on their shoulders.
Primadonna w@nkers !!

 

[mike walker]

I really don’t get the lack of policing of the play the ball. Get up and roll it back with and touching your foot. If you don’t touch it, handover! Who the f$&@ thought and implemented just motioning a touch with the foot was sufficient. It’s one of the most basic and fundamental rules in the sport.

G'day all,I watched a few of the NRLW games on the weekend and one of the first things I noticed was nearly every play the ball was played by putting the ball on the ground and rolling it back with the foot.If the women can do it why is it that the men don't?
cheers mike

 

[master blaster]

The referees left a bit to be desired this weekend.

ACTION: Turbo placed the ball on the ground and never let go of it until he rolled it back and played it with his foot, all while a defender illegally held onto his other leg.
RESULT: Penalty against Turbo for an incorrect play the ball......

ACTION: The last pass that would have seen Souths defeat the Tigers. It didn't look even close to forward.
RESULT: Forward pass called

ACTION: Will Kennedy called offside by the bunker. That's where it should have ended.....
RESULT: Badger in the bunker somehow immediately ignores her own call of offside and awards Kennedy a penalty because despite he was clearly offside trying to charge down Ponga's FG attempt, his illegal run was partially blocked ... The wrongly given penalty sent the game into Golden Point.

And yet AFB just keeps rolling the ball and not touching with his foot. I thought they brought this out last week saying players are getting away with murder by not touching the ball with their foot

 

[The Who]

These 'blocker' rulings don't make sense. The ref only gives them as a penalty if the field goal is successful. There is no penalty if the kick misses or is charged down, even though there are players/blockers in front of the kicker.
Just another example of how screwed up the RL rule book has become.
I await Annusly's explanation, ha ha.

 

[Chuck]

ACTION: Will Kennedy called offside by the bunker. That's where it should have ended.....
RESULT: Badger in the bunker somehow immediately ignores her own call of offside and awards Kennedy a penalty because despite he was clearly offside trying to charge down Ponga's FG attempt, his illegal run was partially blocked ... The wrongly given penalty sent the game into Golden Point.

Badger was not the bunker official, it was Matt Noyen.

It was also very clearly a male voice, did you watch the game?