Sounds like the penalty machine had as poor a game as we've come to expect from him tonight (TBH it's not just him all of Cummings' charges are totally inept and hold back any chance of the game growing but that's another story).

Hull scored 18 points including only 1 try.

One of Hulls penalties came when Crusaders had the ball in hand after the first half hooter had gone - Noble wasn't pleased. The most contraversial one came at the death when Hull kicked the winner. Rod Studd on Sky Sports reported him as going after Child and having to be restrained by the fourth official and check out what the Hull fans are accusing him of doing on their board.

I've never been a fan of Child's since his pathetic claims as a touch judge against Bulls players at hudds a couple of years ago but this must be a new low.

It does beg the question though with this sort of dross every week interms of the 50K men's reffing performances the total pointlessness of Touch Judges and now Ref's booking games off thereby not fullfilling the obligations to which they are contracted because of prior engagements (surely Ganson knew when he signed his contract he had to keep his weekends during the summer months free (unless there's some other reason)?) what the hell are Cummings and the RFL playing at?

When I saw the scoring pattern of this match, I actually wondered whether Child was refereeing. Turns out I was right.

and what was the penalty given for..the half doesnt stop till the ball is dead..ie after the next tackle or try/goal..if crusaders obstructed a hull man from making atackle its a penalty..if crusaders had of ran length of field because tackled player was obstructed then hull would be screaming..if happened against bradford you would be screaming he held him back..so ball still in play he saw a penalty offence..he gave penalty..hull kicked it..then blow for half time..nothing at all wrong it that..wish some of you would learn the bloody rules..james is a good ref..yes he gives alot of pens away but so what that the way he refs and teams know it..simples if you dont want pens against you dont commit an offence.

They're paid a fortune to do it full time so why come the weekend do they all ref the game differently?

A fortune??? are you having a laugh..I know exactly how much refs get and believe me for the abuse we get at all levels it isnt worth it..why do you think karl kirkpatrick walked away..the full time wage is no higher than an average wage..yes theres expenses which you get back..yes if you get london games etc you get put up in hotel..but you dont get paid night out money etc..

Tell you what..ive got spare kit and doing brighouse v whitworth this afternoon..come along and be touch judge..give all decisions..see how many times you get abuse etc.

It's been reported in the press as being £ 50,000 a year. The average wage isn't that much. If i got the wrong end of the stick I apologies. Karl Kirkpatrick had a higher paid job in the Financial Services industry.

Who said anything about abusing them? That is completely uncalled for and has no place in the game.

I won't be doing that as I'm basically a coward.

Speaking as an ex referee i do have to say that the standard of refereeing has dropped allot since the advent of full time referee's. Part of this is due to referee's who are a better quality (Karl Kirkpatrick for example) not wanting to go full time due to their salary in their chosen line of work. Therefore you end up with worse referee's being involved in the top division when they shouldn't be. Secondly there is a lack of referee's coming through from the amateur game that have the potential to become top referee's. This i feel is a failing of the Match Officials Department's development program inability to be able to identify those individuals and be able to give them the encouragement that they need to push on. You also get individuals who get favoured over others in the Match Officials Department and this i feel is the worst part of it all as i have known several people who have finished with refereeing due to being overlooked time and again.
Now i can understand people not wanting to take up refereeing due to some of the abuse that you can receive at all the levels of the sport but i would still say if you're interested in doing it then do it.
I finished for my own reasons which i won't discuss on here but if someone asks me if they should become a ref i'd say try it. if it works out for you you can end up at the top of the sport.
Anyway thats just my opinion and i'll stick to it. As for James Child i can't comment on his performance from last night as i haven't seen the game and so it would be unfair to make comment.

i think id allow part time refs back in game as think we lost some fine refs when they were all forced to go full time think kirkpatrick was proof that we lost out and to be honest making refs full time was meant to improve standards and if truthfull standards have gone down and think some of the blame has to be pointed at stuart cummings and the rfl for tampering with a few of the rules plus not publicly saying when refs have made big wrong desicions

[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/celtic_crusaders/8917058.stmNoble under investigation for his reaction to Child[/url

I'm not one for bagging referees but Child's style seems to be "little Hitler". He seems to rejoice in whistling for penalties where most of the refs would not, and is not only pedantic, but extremely inconsistent. It must be infuriating to be on the wrong end of his whistle. As indeed the Bulls had experience of the other week.

Child was also the self-publicist who marched on the field waving his flag madly in one of last week's tv games, for what was at worst a routine foul, when the rules say he should only do this in case of "serious foul play" missed by the official.

Child's refereeing seems to bemuse every journo who ever writes a report on his match, so at least he has achieved some consistency there. Though it appears the last penalty-that-never-was was awarded by the TJ.

Not sure about the best way forward with Mr Child. I tend to agree with the comments about his 'style' and capricious use of the whistle, but I suspect that, given the shortage of officials, as a young referee, he is being fast tracked thorough the system. I wonder if he is possibly being pushed through a little too quickly, before he is ready.

He may turn out to be a decent ref, let's hope so, but he clearly still has much to learn, and maybe he would be better served in a less demanding environment where he can learn the ropes out of the publicity he attract in SL.

Precisely the words I used when chatting to Blotto on Friday night.

He wants to be the star of the show, much like people have accused Ganson of in the past.