His appreciation of the rules of the game are inconsistent at best but the performance of the touch judges was even worse. I don't understand what their roles are currently?hull's last try should have been chalked off due to sa's obvious infringement against the defending Adam o'brien. To change and maintain a running line whilst putting yr shoulder against the defender is against the rules and how the touch judge was unaware when he was stood right beside them is embarrassing for our game. Hicks control of the ten metre line is pitiful, he was constantly gesturing for both teams line to come back the full ten with both teams ignoring him to very little consequence. He needs to man up and make a call for repeated infringements, for the repeated failure of the team not making the defensive ten every tackle he should penalise twice then look at putting someone in the sin bin, potentially the captain, will make teams understand the impact of being consistently offside.

Widnes found it easier against our offside players than we did against theres ☺

behind it. You're absolutely spot that it makes no difference to the result though; it's how teams play, or how teams make the most from those foibles, that decides the result, not the referees.

I agree, Bulliac - but always thought that the teams, of all people, must surely know the likely peccadilloes of each of the refs and coach their teams to play accordingly when a given ref is up? Wouldn't this just be part and parcel of proper preparation?

What is said at latest refs meeting if it is an aspect to be specifically policed is always now communicated to the clubs so they would know of any change in emphasis.

Exactly. Perhaps the more successful teams are successful partly because they prepare better (except Wigan who cheat)?
In response to Bulliac, I guess each ref has his own black list because they are all different people.

Oh, of course they are TT. They're all individuals with their own minds,foibles and prejudices - just like the rest of us really. My only real quibble with that is that they have a controller who is supposed [in so much as it's actually possible to 'iron out' differences in interpretation and the way the laws of the game are applied but, whatever he does doesn't seem very effective though, again I'd accept that trying to do so is, to some extent, like knitting fog or counting sheep on a Yorkshire moor.