I can't go with all this ref-bashing I'm afraid.....though I get as one-eyed as the best of 'em. If we're good enough, we'll win - if we're not, we'll lose. We can all think of examples where we think the decision was the wrong 'un but it does even out and in all probability the punter is wrong about the call anyway. As often as not in these cases the ref is right - especially when viewed on replay on the ol' boob tube later on that night.....

None of this takes away from the times when they do get it wrong but that's just the luck of the draw, human error - call it what you will - nowt to do with bias!

Good to see that the ludicrous, unscientific `it all evens our theory` is alive and well

2007 - Top of the Fair Play League
2009 - Currently Top of the Fair Play League

2007 - Fewest penalties received
2008 - Fewest penalties received
2009 - So far, Fewest penalties received

So what that means is each time a team plays the Harlequins they play the most disciplined 80 minutes of rugby they have played all season.

Sure.

No one who follows this club will be convinced very easily that it does all get evened out.

Hang on. is this not Ben ' I am a Wakey lad' Thaler?

We have our excuses already!

Blimey, guv when are we gonna get a Cockney ref?

Anyone up for singing in the rain?

Can't make it this Sunday cos I'm working.
Will try to listen on the net, so I hope to hear all the home fan's singing:

"We love Ben Thaler,
Cos he is just a lad,
We love Ben Thaler,
Cos he ain't got no dad,
We love Ben Thaler,
Harleqins, through & through."

of course it's unscientific - its anecdotal so is bound to be. I doubt anyone would say otherwise. But that doesn't mean its ludicrous. And its alive and well because basically it's true....just because you don't like it, don't meant it aint true!

good calls go for you and against you, ditto for bad calls. Do we forget Danny Wards controversial ptb in Edinburgh already?

Maybe it does mean that - by your own admission above, and by the fairplay measure, they are playing against the fairest in t' land....maybe it rubs off?

It may also mean that, because no Quins/Broncos team I have watched in the last 12 years has ever dominated rucks and 'contacts' sufficiently to either rattle opponents or to force the error, we are unable to force teams to concede penalties. Too good for our own, er, good? I have made it a point of measuring the distance between the first point of contact ie where the tackle first commences and the last point of contact ie where the tackle concludes - the distance is either a positive or a negative one.

Invariably we dont come out of it too good, either defensively or offensively, and more often than not the opposition will make yards in the contact and we do not - this allows one team to dominate and win the collision, forcing or conceding penalties as a result. It is often the case even when we've won games.........it tells me we win games because of factors other than winning the collision but I dont think we have enough mongrel or c**t to stop, slow and bully teams around. I think the fairplay stats bear this out - we're too 'nice' so don't give away penalties and we're not 'mean' enough to force opponents to concede penalties. Just a theory of mine and certainly not fact, but worth considering I think....


That Quins get some hard calls is not in dispute, but it does go both ways by and large and even when it doesn't it's not down to bias or birthplace or domicile. Who knows - maybe teams feel the 'bonding' effect having been on the coach with each other longer than normal for this fixture, compared to others.....?



I would be more than happy to accept that a very large reason for this is lack of vociferous home support sub-consciously affecting the refereees but, once again, that's not bias or corrupt officials or referees favouring home town teams or anything like that. Human nature maybe....?

Thought Thaler was fine today. You can always find a few things to disagree about with the ref but I thought he did a good job. Not sure that Danny Brough would agree though.

Wakefield's second try looked miles forward.

Certainly did from where I was sat!

yep....dan marino would have been proud of that pass. 2 yards forward and 15 feet from the touch judge who must have seen it, but did nothing.

In general thought Thaler was ok yesterday.

Thought he was sub-standard, forward pass and all, but didnt think in the end he was as bad as i expected

I thought he was awful but that doesn't matter as we won. The forward pass IMO was a joke that has to been seen

yeah he awarded a knock on when it was ripped out by two in the tackle.
He didnt see it as he had his back turned.
All he saw was a loose ball.

After watching it again on SLTV I have to say, it is pretty flat

I think it looked forward because of the angle he ran, but I have to say now the ref got that call right.

How much playing time do they show on SLTV. I tried to register 2 weeks ago and never got any email back. If its the same play time as on Boots n all and sky news I shant bother but 10+ minutes is worth while having another bash

From my seat I was in line with it and I did not see it as forward.

Thaler's my least favourite referee but I thought he was excellent yesterday. The only glaring error I thought was from the kick off just before the Moore try. Both sides knocked on so it should have been a scrum to Wakefield rather than play on to Wakefield.

There was a strange incident in the first half when he actually played the second knock-on rather than the first.

Once you've registered you should be able to go and view the highlights. They only show the tries, so don't expect much. When you do register, go back to the round when we played Castleford.....they commentary is one of the funniest things not on youtube I have ever heard


Oh......Luke dorn is a poacher, he wears a poachers hat...

Let's not get caught up in the euphoria. Thaler was pretty awful but thankfully both ways (for once). Got loads of calls wrong but thankfully was prepared to let stuff go for the most part so did not detract from the spectacle.

Although as the midget Obst was not onside once throughout the whole 80 minutes - one penalty for offside wouldn't have been an unreasonable request!

Martin never seemed to go back the 10 either.

Judas.

And then he scored, easiest tries of his Wakey career, we let him

Tony Club let him......he really needs to sort out his tackling. He always looks for the big hit...............if you watch the try on SLTV he looks like he is patting Martin on the back as he goes past


As for the Judas comment.....b0ll0x....Tony Martin always gave his all for the Broncos.