This entire charade is a disgrace but in the final analysis if this prevails the fault for allowing it to do so lies with MacB and the other officials present with the England players. They should plainly and simply make it very clear that they do not agree with this manipulation and clearly refuse to accept it. Should that upset the Australians, then so be it! They the Aussies would not be party over here to such shennaigans if we were to demand them and should be made to realise that we playing on their territory will not either.
The Samoans also should be willing to throw in their lot along with us as they are also being expected to accept the unacceptable too.

From watching the World Cup and i can't remember if it was Silverwood or Bentham that was so one sided and far too pally with the Australians it seemed as if they were extorting him somehow. He bent over for them and opened the gates. He refereed their game EXACTLY how they wanted it AND let them get away with stuff that on any given SL w/e he wouldn't. It was excruciating to watch especially his slimey overtly friendliness with the Australian players. Conversely, we have Australian refs whom just play it down the line according to their interpretation no matter if England are playing so any team with NRL based players are going to have a distinct advantage. As for the kiwi ref, he's worse than ours & is just garbage, his first outing at Wembley in 2011 was a disgrace and nothing short of corrupt. They said they wanted the best referee, well on the first weekends performance that was actually Bentham, even the most narrowest minded of Australian's should admit he did a very good job last week. That Cummings has come out in a direct attack on the procedure speaks volumes. www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/o ... s-cummings

From watching the World Cup and i can't remember if it was Silverwood or Bentham that was so one sided and far too pally with the Australians it seemed as if they were extorting him somehow. He bent over for them and opened the gates. He refereed their game EXACTLY how they wanted it AND let them get away with stuff that on any given SL w/e he wouldn't. It was excruciating to watch especially his slimey overtly friendliness with the Australian players. Conversely, we have Australian refs whom just play it down the line according to their interpretation no matter if England are playing so any team with NRL based players are going to have a distinct advantage. As for the kiwi ref, he's worse than ours & is just garbage, his first outing at Wembley in 2011 was a disgrace and nothing short of corrupt. They said they wanted the best referee, well on the first weekends performance that was actually Bentham, even the most narrowest minded of Australian's should admit he did a very good job last week. That Cummings has come out in a direct attack on the procedure speaks volumes. www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/o ... s-cummings

Australia are commemorating the Rorke's Drift test by following a long tradition of making sure they have every advantage possible, hopefully England will also commemorate said test by bucking a long held tradition of losing.

With Tony Archer in charge of match officials and appointments for this tournament, nothing surprises me at all about these appointments. The guy was a grade a to$$er when he was a ref, and he's still a grade A to$$er when he's the referee's chief!

The lamenting over GB is not some misplaced nostalgia, We are talking about spreading the game so we can have a credible international game. Having England as the main side robs players from the Celtic national squads, we have already seen young welsh players opting for England, there may not be any ready for GB but if & when we do get players they will have to opt for England as it will be the only way they will play against NZ or Australia each year,The excuse that the Jocks dont feel for GB been used to dump GB is a red herring. The sports council was split up because of Scotland & Wales now are funded through thier respective parliments but the RFL can still put out a GB side they just have to find diferent funding streams. The more credible national sides we can put out the better the game will get. It should be the long term goal & 50 years down the line the need for GB may go as all the home nations might be strong enough to compete against the rest of the world on thier own. If that ever hapens international games will be the pinacle of the sport as it should be. At least that is my belief.

You must get away with your "holier than thou" routine so often, it becomes second nature



Instead of pontificating on what you consider distinguishes honourable people (English) from dishonourable people (Australian) in Rugby League, how about we deal with the reality instead?

The English want neutral refs about as much as the Aussies do. That is always the reality of the situation. England want one of their own refs in charge and the Aussies want one of their own refs in charge.

Neither camp has ever argued even remotely passionately for neutral referees. Occasionally, both sides will enter a stand off situation and reach a temporary accommodation on the use of neutral refs, but that's about all it ever amounts to. Such temporary accommodations are always terminated at the first mere whiff or hint of an incompetent performance by any neutral ref (Translation: one that isn't English or Australian).

It is therefore not possible to occupy any "high moral ground" when one eagerly and relentlessly participates in such farcical exchanges on who ought to be refereeing international contests.

The England camp wanted their own refs in charge of their fixtures during the 2008 World Cup. Tony Smith whinged and whined relentlessly about not getting a fair go with regard to refereeing appointments. The England camp wanted Bentham in charge of the 2011 Four Nations Final against Australia. They did not want a neutral ref. They lost the refereeing battle and they lost the Final.

Crying "we want neutral refs" immediately after the other mob have succeeded where you have failed is the cry of ts.