In all fairness to McDermott I think people and inparticular the sky commentary team, are looking too much into yesterdays game. McDermott made the exact comments over the weekend, before the match took place.

He was proved correct as it happens. But he is no phsycic, so surely there is something more than just coincidence in what he said.

He has said it previously before the weekend too.

The Sky team over analyse everything. They are idiots too. There was one point yesterday where Stevo said something along the lines of, I cant understand why Catalan keep kicking to Hall when Vickery hasn't dropped back. 1st of all, since about 2005, Leeds always keep the winger on the side the ball is at in the line and drop the full back and the opposite winger back to cover half the field each. Secondly, it further cements the point that he is stuck in the 70s and hasn't moved on.

Whilst I tend to agree with your first point, I'm less sure about the second. I can't remember any time in the history of Rugby League when a majority of fans or coaches were happy with the overall standard of refereeing.

I'd like to hear specifics but i suspect it's more than just numbers. I suspect it's about inconsistency. Two things stood out to me. Bailey's first half challenge was identical to the challenge Achurch suffered. One is a penalty, the other isn't.

Bailey's second half challenge looked identical to the late challenge on Burrow in the 1st half. One is a penalty, the other is a red card.

I think most people on this thread are in agreement ,we just want from our referees consistency . At headingley the other week peacock was rightly penalized for not playing the ball with his foot,since then I lost count of the times I seen the same thing happen and go unpunished .

Just for the record I think Thaler is one of if not the best referee in super league.

A good referee is only as good as his TJ's. I know the man in the middle makes the calls, but if you have a couple of good guys running the line, your job is 10 times easier.

And if you have the two that were on duty yesterday in the south of France, ten times harder.

Is it time that where there is a stoppage in play the VR can advise the man in the middle when he's got a call wrong?

I'm thinking here about incidents like the Sinfield knock on from the short drop out on Thursday, or the whack on the jaw Achurch took from Taia yesterday. The game had stopped, it was pretty obvious from first look at the video what the situation actually was so why not correct it and get the right decision made.

Fans, players and coaches just want officials to get decisions right. Why not help them out where you can?

In Australia, the VR tells the ref if there's been a high shot they have missed if it causes a stoppage. It happens on a weekly basis. If the technology is there I agree with using it but only if the main ref asks for the advice, not the VR having a whisper in his ear all the time.

That's fine, but you're reliant on the on-field referee having an ego small enough that allows them to actually seek advice. Not sure that would work with some of ours.

Interesting that two NRL refs have been stood down for missing an alleged shoulder charge by Danny Buderus which has left Blake Ferguson with a suspected fractured eye socket, and a tackle in the air in the same game. Compare that to how much it takes to get stood down in SL, which based on the evidence appears to require allowing teams to score twice on the seventh tackle.

Stepping away from the whole refereeing issue for a moment, the most pleasing aspect for me is that we have taken 7 points out of 8 in the games against Wigan, Saints, Bradford and Catalans, and we should really have got all 8. The Leeds team of a year ago would probably have lost all of these games (granted, the Huddersfield result was in and amongst these games, but losing badly to them at home is our new yearly tradition it seems). The difference in our defence in the space of a year is very impressive.

I suspect the pool of refs is larger in the NRL so they can afford to drop those that underperform. Over here we only have 7 fulltimers IIRC so the guys you bring up from the lower leagues have had less time to prepare and are unlikely to be much better than those they replace. We're stuck with what we've got.

I don't think there's a short term fix to refereeing standards. Using the video ref sounds ok in theory but you run the risk of the video ref getting too involved and the man in the middle becoming superfluous or too much being "sent upstairs" for an opinion. You would still get mistakes, even when the video ref has a good view.

In the longer term we need to attract more people into the job, support and train them properly and protect them from abuse so that they don't give up along the way.

I agree.and we were only well beaten by Hudds. by a half back with a quality kicking game exposing a rookie winger as they were not busting us down the middle.

The intensity as a whole seems to have returned so far to our weekly round performances and the defence has been very good.just improve our discipline a notch and we will be a tough team to beat.

Careful. Remember I have said nothing against your hero for a while

I've said it for a while AG re-VR's getting involved he could also have told Thaler Bailey did not make contact with Bosc's head.
From my own pov i'd rather they get it right whilst using the VR or the VR having a word than some of the awful calls we are witnessing.
Also on a few occassions i've seen teams plead with Bentham and Silverw##k to go to the VR and they have yet when others have asked its been ignored.
Again it makes you wonder what they do during the week because they make the same bad calls time and time again its about time they were "coached2 and faced some sort of comeback for p!$$ poor efforts.

Fire at will. Free country. Opinions are what we're here for.

On other occasions it's looked to me as if a ref daren't give a try without referring it to the VR. Some happy medium is what I want to see.

It was a failing of Cummings and the RFL that they did not communicate with supporters about the move to make refs fully professional and to clarify the weekly contentious decisions in the media. From what I hear Cummings did precious little communication with coaches either so it's no wonder standards slipped.

Despite all that I think we need to recognise that it's a hard job. Coaches are forever making it harder for refs with their concentration on the ruck area and it must be a nightmare to police that in some games. Players are often trying as hard to win a penalty as they are to win the game.

What we need is a partnership between all parties to move the game forwards. I'd like to see fewer rule changes each season especially those which are massively open to interpretation. I'd consult with all but be careful to keep a balance. The last time coaches got too much of a say we had the unlimited interchange.

Agreed

Why bother with video refs?
Yes have it referred to the Video but let the man in the middle make the deciosn without having to rely on the VR.
I would also use the video for what looks like a high shot and stop putting incidents on report.
Let the man in the middle grow a pair and stand up and be counted for his decisions.

This. VR's are only available for some matches so refs have to be able to make a decision and back their judgement.
Referees controller, referees and clubs need to work together to improve both standards and the games image. Unfortunately when these have their own agendas then it becomes more difficult.

Leeds received eight while conceding sixteen - making a total of twenty-four. Not sure the spectacle, such as it was, could cope with an even higher count than that. Is that what McDermott is asking for here?

__________

Some posters have mentioned the two penalties conceded immediately after the interval. Spare a thought for the official trying again to set the standard early and get the game moving after a pretty turgid opening forty minutes. IMO he waited too long to issue the official warning or use the sin-bin for offences that occurred after it - choosing even to ignore some rather than penalise knowing it would inevitably incur a yellow card and further unbalance the contest. He even had to remind the Leeds captain that the warning was still in place even after Bailey was dismissed.

It's too easy to blame the official trying to get a flowing game on when the players (presumably under instruction) are out to spoil and slow the game down to a standstill.

The Penalty count was a fair reflection of what went on during the game - Leeds found a way of strangling the life out of the Catalans, thats Rugby League, the fact that Thaler hammered Leeds shouldn't even be debated.

What should is how miserable the performance of table topping Catalans actually was, no game plan, no structure beyond hammering it down the middle all night.

I hate to say it but at this moment in time Leeds can play when they like and how they like and I wouldn't bet against them winning the GF again in October - the competition just isn't there, great if you support Leeds, not so great if you support the need for ESL to evolve and the home Nations to compete at International level with the likes of Australia and NZ.

I just keep hoping to see a game where Leeds aren't correctly penalised for high shots or late, off the ball incidents.
It grieves me to see my team reinforcing the claims of opposition fans that we're a dirty team.
I can accept most calls, it's legitimate IMV to go as far as they can to slow down the PTB, not by sticking hands in, but by getting 3 & 4 men in the tackle.
That will on occasions be penalised as will holding players up & pushing them back or into touch.
But more often than not if players make a "reasonable" attempt to get off the tackled player or stop shoving they will be ok.

What I noticed on Monday was the amount of times the Catalan players moved away from the mark where the tackle took place.
This either resulted in Leeds messing about at the play the ball or not standing square when the ball was played.
At one time refs used to pull the man playing the ball up for that discretion.

Catalans players are the worst for moving off the mark, and we conceded a few penalties because of it