There are a few things I don't agree with but not in any particular order.
1. Bad decisions even themselves out over a season. Well, tossing a coin and getting heads or tails evens itself out but refs decisions don't.
2. People saying the ref doesn't affect the result because he doesn't knock on.
3. Forward passes can't be seen on screen so they can't be given to the video ref. We have been complaining about forward passes in rugby union and we only see them on TV. And now we see them in rugby league. I'm not talking about flat passes that go slightly forward but I think we should go to the video ref who could see the obvious ones and ignore the debateable ones.
4. 'Benefit of the doubt' coming up on the screen. Most I've seen should say 'very doubtful but I've no idea'.
5. Refs saying they can see a forward pass by the position of the players hands as he passes the ball. It depends on the angle he is running. Players do not always pass when they are running parallel to the touchline.

Apart from the above I love rugby league and can't wait for the next game.

I disagree.

I don't agree with the reasons you gave but I get your point.

From bitter personal experience (no more so than last season) point one is totally sport on. It's not just the decisions themselves but the timing of them. Think about it. They can never realistically even up, especially if you get less penalties than any other team.

1. maybe not over a season but there will be ups and downs over years.
2. of course he affects the result hence its so bloody hard to be a superleague ref if he didn't affect the result they'd led any plank take up the whistle. oh wait.......

3.of course you can see it on tv! all you need is 2 fixed points of reference. i.e the touch line and the 20m scrum line. then draw a line between them and extend across the pitch. in the nfl they have pretty coloured lines running across the pitch for down markers so its not to hard.

its more of a case of do we really need to go to the video ref for everything! i think that some refs think they can use the video ref to check offside/crossing etc before tries to cover their own lazyness.

4.see point 1 flip a coin it will even itself out



5. if you play or ref alot you can very easily build a picture of geometry in your mind. you will no when a pass is forward because it will look wrong! hard to explain but it does just look wrong. the wonders of the human mind

If a player receives a forward pass he would actually be standing in an offside position and as they check for onside/offside surely they could do this for forward passes

but would he actually be offside? surely as long as he is level or behind the passing player at the time of the pass he is onside?

Refs always, and pretty much only, check the passer's hands to judge a pass. The rules state it doesn't matter where the ball goes after it leaves the hands only what direction it was thrown by the passer.
Hence strong winds or dodgy bounces can't make a pass illegal.
Lines on the pitch or a video screen straight line "marker" make nearly every pass thrown by a running man appear forward so if used players would have to slow right down before releasing the ball!

Do you agree with this? Referees are essential to our great game. They give honest decisions and take far too much criticism. Refs deserve much more respect and overall do a damnn good job.

Err... you might want to read to rules on what a backward pass is! (In Rugby) the direction of a pass has nothing to do with the it's path over the ground. It's relative to the players, not the ground.

couldn't agree more.

Without refs we'd have no game. I've refereed schoolboys for 35 years so I'm not getting at the refs but merely disagreeing about the 5 points I've mentioned.
One perspn still thinks bad decisions even themselves out. My grumble is not at the bad decisions (but one can never be happy about them), it's thinking that they even themselves out.
It's like saying that over the years Saints victories over Blackpool will end up pretty even. If people's ability is involved, chances are not even.
On one of the other points, if someone is running sideways across the field from left to right, even if his hands are pointing backwards, the pass will be forward so refs should not just look at the hands.

and there was me thinking the ball can be passed in any manner and in any direction as long as it isn't in a direction that takes it closer to the oppositions goal line

You'd be completely wrong, then. It is forward [ionly[/i if it moves forward (ie towards the oppositions goal line) in an inertial frame of reference to the passer, as it leaves the passer's hands.

can you tell us another way it could possibly move towards the oppositions goal line then

Benefit of the doubt should always go to the defending team. To score a try, a referee must be 100% certain that it is one. Benefit of the doubt implies he's not 100% certain, therefore the attacking team didn't warrant enough merit for the try to be awarded.

If the ball goes forward relative to the moving player, that is forward.
If the ball goes forward relative to the pitch, [iit doesn't matter[/i.

Think - if you're running forward at 15 mph, and you pass it completely flat, the ball will still be travelling forward at 15 mph, yet won't be forward.

If forward passes were decided how the ball starts/finishes relative to the pitch, then if you were running forward at 15 mph, you would physically have the throw the ball backwards at 15mph just so that it remains stationary (and isn't forward) relative to the pitch.

Equally the referee could ask the question "is there any physical reason why I can't give the try?".

You are Mike "momentum rule" Stephenson and I claim my £5

Because he's not 100% certain.

he can't be.... because he's right.
Stevo has no idea what momentum is...

What decision should he give when he hasn't seen any reason to disallow the try but isn't 100% a try was scored?

It could bounce forward towards the opposition line.
It could be blown forward towards the opposition line by the wind.

These (along with momentum) are explicitly mentioned in the laws if the game as situations in which the ball can move towards the opposition goal line and not be a forward pass.

At what point did I mention momentum? The fact the ball has mass is pretty irrelevant.