Spot on

The standard of refereeing is certainly not "crap". Could it be better? What couldn't? The standard of refereeing in terms of mistakes made is IMHO 1000% better than the standard of the bulk of the players. And it seems to be an obvious fact that on analysis, the vast majority of decisions which fans (and certain commentators) scream for during the match prove to be correct on slo-mo analysis.

I don't agree that the standard of refereeing is crap, but I do think it's time to have that conversation. Too much for a single post on here, so happily I [url=http://littlegrubbers.blogspot.com/2012/08/balance-of-probabilities.htmlexpanded on it here[/url

I think it is - there is little consistency, poor use of available resources and a total lack of transparency or accountability from the top.

I'm not convinced that all of the individuals delivering the service are crap - rather, that the structure they're working within doesn't promote good performance.

Our game of rugby league is a fast game, mistakes will be made by the officials, especially the ones like was the ball stripped or dropped by the ball carrier for example or was he offside or not ? I think we just have to accept human error in these instances for the flow of the game but in my opinion the one that infuriates the fans most of all is when the oposition scores a try where there's a blatent forward pass involved in the build up !! For god's sake, a guy in the street outside knows it's a forward pass !! So everyone knows except the guy in the middle with the white stick and tin can !! If a try is scored the game has stopped. In the time it takes for the ref to make up his mind, look at both his touch judges to see if they're still awake the video ref would almost have the time to have a quick look and help the ref make his decision and most importantly check if there was a forward pass involved it's about time they used the technology at their disposal !!!

I think a part of it is our owner pointing out in a round about way that we are important to SLE in our own way now.

There talking about bringing a coaches challenge into the nrl, what a disaster that will be!

Spoken like a true Rhino!! Of course you haven't seen the ref decide any game because 99% of the time they are working in your favour.

Here we go again...

nah, no takers for that one

bad news for Catalans though - the ref is apparently Mr Child..............



Leeds by 30 points at least...

So you think Child is bent, either for Leeds or against Catalans then?

If you do, RL doesn't need you.

don't try telling me what i'm thinking - it's demeaning

Mr Child isn't bent - he's just an inconsistent ref and with the Catalans on a downward spiral and Leeds on the up I can't see anything other than a very one-sided contest with a big win for Leeds

to say that RL doesn't need me is a huge insult to someone who has followed the game since the mid sixties - I will treat your comments with the contempt they deserve

But he didn't tell you what you were thinking, with respect you actually said:



YOU made the direct link between Child's appointment as ref, and this being bad news for Catalans, who would thus lose by 30 points at least. You may not have meant to, but it is 100% how it reads, and having for several pages argued for the proposition that refs are biased against Catalan, it could hardly be read any other way.

No SL refs are biased but, they do all makes mistakes and as with the players, sometimes their mistakes are at critical times and others less so.
On occasion, as supporters of a particular team, thier mistakes directly affect the result, but this doesn't make them biased.
Although it is incredibally difficult, especially in the heat of a close game, we should cut the ref's some slack and for any team to threaten to withdraw
from the league is just petulant.
If anyone thinks its easy or that they can do a better job, then get on and show the world how it should be done.

SL referees are such low calibre people that they are affected by such things as the home crowd, big club pressure and angry players. What we need is a cull of everyone involved. A lot of the touchjudges in SL in particular are farcical. Either sparrow legged young men who are shivering with fear and physically incapable of raising the flag for fear of being blown away or old men on the verge of collapse through the pressure of standing up and jogging for 80 minutes.

this is what I said about Mr Child

"Mr Child isn't bent - he's just an inconsistent ref and with the Catalans on a downward spiral and Leeds on the up I can't see anything other than a very one-sided contest with a big win for Leeds"

which means what it says - it doesn't say or even intimate that Mr Child is biased against the Catalans ("Mr Child isn't bent"icon_wink.gif - It says that the ref is inconsistent and it says that the Catalans are out of form and Leeds are in form so I expect a big win for Leeds - so, where's the problem ?

FWIW Mr Child, on a twitter page stupidly called the Catalans/French "Frogs" - do you think I should report him to the RFL ?

There was an inference that Mr Child may influence the result against you.
Concerning the "Frog" remark, some people have been chased out of town for lesser remarks, it is certainly an inappropriate comment and a professional referee in any sport should not be using those terms !.

no intention to imply the ref would try to cheat - I actually believe he is one of the few, maybe the only ref to have actually improved this season - he's had some howlers at the GB in the past and has been equally as bad for all teams - apologies to Mr Child if this impression was given
as I said in a previous post I believe the worst reffing performance for the Catalan home games this season was actually by Halibert ( at Montpellier I seem to recall, without looking it up)

If it was actually him, probably

An interesting treatise [url=http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/12/18/football-freakonomics-how-advantageous-is-home-field-advantage-and-whyhere[/url suggests that ALL referees are influenced by the home crowd.

certainly not at the GB...

Any gripes today from Catalans after a dodgy decision?

Thought not.

Just off to play on my swing and roundabout.

Lets see if its even at the end of the season before chucking one back our way

that was, by a long way the worst reffing performance of the season and one of the worst I have ever witnessed in 45 years of watching our great game

credit to the Catalans who somehow managed to defeat a good Leeds side and a ref who was making bad decisions that beggared belief ! this guy is a disgrace to the profession

he was escourted from the field by security guards - the home fans were beying for blood despite their teams' victory

even the visiting journos and RFL officials were embarassed by this disgraceful attempt though Mr Bentham did fine as VR and it's good to see him back

enjoy you swings and roundabout - try not to fall off and damage your brains