Quite the opposite I feel. As he got the boos, he lowered his head and actually had a cheeky smile on his face about it as he entered the tunnel.

Surely that's the wrong attitude for a referee to take??

I don't think so. I'm sure it was just a slight chuckle to himself as he'll get boos regardless of what he does on the pitch, as 99% of referees do.

Don't think it was a "Muahahahahahaha, I screwed them" kind of evil laugh

Maybe it was "I'll get you next time" chuckle 

Anyone who has graduated to reffing at SL level is guaranteed to be totally impervious to boos. When you think of the stick they will have taken from junior level, to maybe running the line in tight grounds like Fev or Keighley, where all you get is 80 minutes of stick, there is just no way they take any notice.

Also, while I can understand the choruses of boos when perceived slights by the officials have reached a certain level, I've yet to see a ref react by putting his hand up and suddenly starting to give every decision to the booing fans' team, so other than getting it off your chest, it seems a futile excercise.

Plus, from Hicks' point of view, while he hears the boos, he's just called it as he's seen it, so why would he be bothered anyway? Especially given that booing the officials off, and sometimes on, the filed is pretty much in the job description anyway, and telling the officials how to do their job is part and parcel of every fan's matchday duty.

Certainly those enraged frothing at the mouth morons sat in front of me didn't think it was part of the pantomine. I suggest those who think the kind of vitriol our referees are subject to these days have a look at a thread of VT, where at least one up & coming ref is stopping reffing junior games due to the grief he is getting off the touch line. It's not just RL, I was walking the dogs round a football pitch before yesterday's game, the crowd were shrieking at the players & ref. I had to stop in disbelief when the coach (as usual wearing a track suit with his socks rolled down on the outside, patrolling 1m onto the field) was imploring his side to 'compress the midfield'. Fortunately the 9 year olds ignored him. Further on to where Ilkley yawnion youngsters were playing in front of manic deranged parents baying for blood. I once saw a parent run on to a yawnion pitch & scream in his son's face 'Get up! Get up! you soft git' to his poor injured young lad. I would love to ref but there is no way I would endure that sort of crap until I reached the level where I was physically separated from the plebs.

I did used to referee both junior and adult football, but the amount of greif you receive for giving up a sunday morning or saturday afternoon hardly seemed worth the £10 you were paid. The funny thing about refereeing is the "feedback" that every team has to give. The winning side always thought you were the man who should be refereeing the world cup final, yet the losing side wanted you "put down" there and then...

Oh the memories

I suggested a campaign a couple of years ago to cheer the referee when he came out of the tunnel and when his name was announced, then constantly shout words of encouragement and praise to him, even go as far as chanting his name from the terraces. In an effort to boost his ego and swing the decisions our way.

Nobody seemed interested

"There's only one Steve Ganson, one Steeeeeve Gaaanson" That would be funniest thing ever.

We once did at a Halifax (a) game.
Can't remember the ref though

We love you Bentham because you've got no 'air...

...for I can't help falling in love with you,
James Child clap clap clap
James Child clap clap clap

Ben Thaler oh oh oh
Ben Thaler oh oh oh
he comes from Wakefield
he marches them back ten metres
Ben Thaler oh oh oh

With a whistle in his hand and a cheeky smile,
Thierry Alibert,
arbitre des matches a Rugby a Treize!

From the Coral stand the atmosphere in the ground was noticeably improved and the team I thought benefited from it. More days like yesterday wont do us any harm at all.

Some snaps from yesterday:

Great pictures mate

Would anyone agree with what this poster has to say?

There really is a bad atmosphere problem at Odsal now and I'm not sure how it can be fixed. We were outsung all match by 20 Quins fans, an embarressment in both respects.

a roof on the terracing would make a huge difference. Quins games never bring much excitement anyway. Im sure leeds game will be very different. A roof would improve it though

A roof would only be any good if there was some sound to bounce around?!

would be plenty with a roof trust me

Lets face it....there's not a great deal to shout about lately is there?

I would 2nd that!

The game was very tight and every time we looked to have put a bit of daylight between us, we let them in again with some pretty poor tackling at times. This kind of game does create atmosphere but it's a tense kind and not the sort where people feel like singing.

"You're not singing anymore" is a taunt and a cliché, but things become clichéd because they contain a certain truth, and that truth, in this case, is that most folk just don't want to sing when the game is very close.

Odd how people seem to have deleted from their memories what a cracking atmosphere we had against Cas, especially the last 20 mins or so when the place was a cauldron. Yet this can't happen at Odsal, with no roof, can it? Must have imagined it.

Is it a catch 22 situation tho'. Does a lacklustre team perforrmance affect the crowd, or does a 'quiet' crowd affect team performance.

Well if you look at it this way, wigan, wire, st's all have big followings.... and they are up top of the table, were as catalans, crusaders, quins dont have such a big following... Theyve been in bottom half of the league

I've never had any doubt, and the Cas match just reinforced, that most fans do come to have a shout and cheer the team on and get involved, and will do so, if the performance on the field gets them going. If it's dead on the field, no amount of tannoy cheerleading will have any effect at all. But the point is, people don't [iwant[/i to be quiet, as the applause and loud appreciation of the very first big hit demonstrates.

Of course, I think it goes without saying that the more you are roared on by a fanatical crowd, the more a team will "get going", that's the nature of sport, anything that gets your adrenaline flowing will raise your game, similar temporary effect of perceived injustices, cheap shot on a teammate, etc.