Truly, disgustingly bad. really did cost widnes the game today, and the linesman are just as bad. simply unreal today. Robys effort on friday night pales in comparison.
The only problem is a lack of decent replacements for some of these tools. we are stuck with them.
Dont get me wrong, i know refs can never please everyone, but jesus christ, Robert hicks has made me feel sick today.

Got beat by a point and apparently one of our conversions that was flagged off definitely went over

wonder if any body at the rfl will have the balls to rectify it if it wasn't missed

Will they s h I t e. not bottle. Some bad decisions. Saints fans behind the goal are saying it was over

I knooooow!


Saints player held up short for about A WEEK, then places ball down when tacklers release him - TRY AWARDED.
Saints kick ball at Chris Dean from about 3 feet away, he doesnt move a muscle, ball hits him. Widnes player right next to him picks the ball up, deemed to be offside, penalty to saints on our line - ten seconds later SAINTS score.
non of the officials had a clue what happened at that kick off at the end, hicks tossed a coin on that decision. Head and feed to saints in our half, saints score in the last minute.
A ten that varied from 5 Metres to 15 from one tackle to the next.
And so on...........

to be fair tho if you converted more than 1 of the tries you would have won

Equally so, if saints had not been gifted 12 points, nor one of our kicks (apparently) wrongly chalked off then it really wouldnt matter.

Did it clear the tops of the posts?

If so its prob due to the fact Super League and Championship uprights generally are too small leading to this kind of mistake by touch judges.I've seen quite a few of these incidents over the last few years.Look at the NRL uprights-they reach the clouds totally eliminating doubt.

Im not usually one to bleat about refs, and i know many will think im just bitter.
But i am honestly FURIOUS with the officials today.

I think the kick in question was actually below the top of the posts, it seemed to be from my position. which is why its so upsetting.

Fair enough.Another example for video refs at all games then-even though the game can't afford it.

You'll get little sympathy - just like when Uncle Alibert let Wire have an extra tackle in a set to beat us, you'll be told that it's a fast game, people make mistakes, it happens, get over it etc etc.

In reality, there's a dearth of refereeing talent in this country and it's reaching a crisis; they need to do some succession planning, and quick.

Why do you think there is a lack of refereeing talent? Probably because not a lot of people want to put up with all the hassle you get from crowds /coaches from grassroots level right up to senior level in Super League

At the end of the day, you either put up or shut up, if you think you can do better, there are always match official courses to go on.

I had a clear view from behind the sticks and I was convinced it was a goal. Everybody around me thought it was a goal.

However, Lance Hohaia's try was also a try and not a knock on, I saw that clearly too. But it was adjudged to be a knock on.

I will admit that Saints got lucky today. You played better than us almost throughout the whole game. But that's the way it is. Saints have been on your side of the fence this season and now we are on the other side. No doubt you will be on the lucky side before the season is out too.

Thanks Mr Ganson.

I could turn your argument on it's head and say that if officials were sufficiently skilled and behaved consistently and with transparency, there would be less to get on their backs about and as a result, less abuse from the crowd. It doesn't seem too much to ask of a full-time, paid employee in the elite level of a sport.

I do agree however that they could be better supported by their own organisations in terms of selection, training and CPD.

We had Hicks a couple of weeks ago and he was woeful then as well. So i can imagine how bad he was.

It's a sad state when Ganson is the best we have, why is reffing here so poor when compared with the NRL?

Agreed, you should have had that try. Well pleased with our lads today, We should have done saints but not to be. Great show by the Vikings, bit of a mare for Mr hicks. Bring on the next game

Did you not watch the SOO, going off that there referee's aren't much better...

But we did.... that's the annoying part of the result..Saints didn't win "fairly", they won because of a disgraceful decision by the TJs.

Don't know if the Ref can over-rule the TJs on a goal kick decision - does anyone here know?

Every time i've seen this guy ref he's been awful. When Bentham broke his leg, Hicks took over and was referring things to the video referee he was about a metre away from - hes very average.

That example you've brought up is the perfect one to show how different a game can be with a ref who just isn't good enough.

Until Bentham's injury, the game flowed, he allowed the players to do what they do best and it was enjoyable. After that moron took over, it was ruined. He was picky, pedantic and wouldn't make a decision on a try himself.

We had Alibert today and he was useless as usual, yet him, Hicks and Roby are getting game after game after game.

Bring back Russel Smith.

The young lad who reffed Warrington vs Widnes at the Magic Weekend did pretty well, no idea why he's not been called up again since.

How can you say Saints didn't win fairly? The goal was not given just the same as Lance's good try was not given. It was probably the other missed goals that cost you the game today.

bro. you were lucky Hohaia's try was turned down, or Saints may have got out of your sight in the first place. Saints were lucky, but they won and you have to move on with life. focus on how much Widnes are improving right now.