Aussies win then

Apart from making the game look bent, What sort of message dose it send to potential referees unless you happen to be Australian?. If the great Australian NRL refs are so bl**dy good a standard then why dont they have New Zealand, PNG & other south sea refs in thier competition, there would be no problem then. Super league has a French ref(& should have another one plus a Welshman) I blame the other Countrys for bending over backwards to accomodate the Aussies, it was just the oposite in cricket they were the ones who screamed to get neutral umpires.

About 20 years ago the RFL's David Oxley said....

[iAustralians have no interest in the international game. They would much prefer to be left alone to play with themselves...........and we all know what people who prefer to do that are called............[/i

I think that sums it up nicely.

Actually it was Ashley Klein who refereed the final. Ganson was the Video Ref.

I agree with everything everyone has said though; Archer getting this gig is an absolute joke and it makes International Rugby League a shambles!!!

Quel surprise.

We should re-work that old Spitting Image song about South Africans.....

Oooooooooooooooooh i've never meet a FAIR Australian!

I am sorry, you are right. Ganson was the video ref and gave NZ a penalty try towards the end of the game and it was for that reason the Aussies got the hump with Ganson.

I found the highlights here and it is telling to notice that the Gould & Sterling do think it should be a penalty try!

[urlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6SA59d_z5g[/url

They are just bloody whingers when it comes to ref's. Silverwood is far better ref than Archer and is neutral, this should be a no brainer!

NRL ref for NRL final. What's the problem? If we had a SL ref we would have 26 players on the pitch playing to a different rhythm, which would be worse for NZ than an Ozzie ref.

I'm in shock. No, honest I am.

They've been pulling this stunt for years and decades, why do out RFL allow them to get away with it?
When they decide the fixtures and venues they should name the ref and VR.
As for the semis and final then name three refs ensuring a neutral gets the game.
It's the RFL who need to get it sorted.
If the RLIF go for this rubbish in the 2013 World Cup and we have an Aussie ref in charge of a final in which the Aussies are competing they will make Rugby League look very poor with the sporting public here in the UK.

australia & archer are gonna dick NZ ...lmao

Like it...........

NRL has two refs, international RL doesn't.

There was a kid at my primary school who, before we played football at lunchtime, would insist on all the best players or he would throw a tantrum, make up the rules as he went along as ensure that he would win all the time and if he lost he would throw a tantrum and he would always go on and on about how unbeatable he was.

Sort of reminds me of the ARL.

Amen brother.

Typically poor, and expected, decision from the RLIF/ARL.

And individual ref'ing standards have dropped in the NRL because of this IMO. Silverwood, in one game, looked head and shoulders above Archer and is the better ref and neutral... this should have been an easy call!

Indeed. Really gutless effort this one.

This is a poor decision, especially with a very capable neutral ref involved in the series, there is no reason to appoint Archer, who i think has been poor so far,
at least we can watch the final and then judge the ref as neutrals. May the best team win.

Are we neutrals? I will be willing the Kiwis to win, can't stand the Aussies.

Interestingly whilst watching the C9 commentary in Oz they seemed OK and didn't comment on reffing. But on watching the replay on Fox Sports, you had the kiwi feed and they seemed a little critical at times of Silverwood.

There is only one word for this decision - DISGRACEFUL.

This presumably explains why Archer won "International Referee of the Year" to cloak this decision with some legitimacy.

It was a refreshing change at Eden Park to see 2 neutral referees for the two games and in fairness two good referring performances with little of contention in either games.

And then for the game that matters we are back to this FARCE and it brings international rl into contempt. Australia have the benefit of the best players, a tribal Queensland crowd in Brisbane for a team with 10 Queenslanders in it and to top it off a tame referee who in the previous game seemed to be on one to one terms with "Cammy" Smith.... If NZ do pull this off it will be against significant odds..and not even the hope of a level playing field from the ARL/RLIF.

It pains me to say this but the only option seems to be to withdraw our custom as stakeholders (ticket and merchandise buyers etc) unless the credibility of the sport and the international game we all love is restored. I dont even want to think about what a regular sportsfan (non-regular RL viewer) would think about this decision.

In my experience, they don't care.

Bingo!

Poor decision. The last paragraph is a though.