I thought so; you see the problem is it seems you have never listened TO ANYONE but yourself.

Hopefully this will be a wake up call hes turned into a bit of a sh*thouse since Wane came in and I dont mean the good type Im talking like Newton was dirty hes not done anything as bad yet but hes getting there.

I might be the first to say this but

Honestly, it was a red card but only just.

Its a Wigan v Saints game. Supposedly the biggest most brutal derby in world RL.

So what if one of our players starts the ruff stuff?. You take the risk when you chuck a late one like that but its not the end of the world.

it wasn't even that bad a challenge. Some people need to get of there soapboxes.

Part of MM's game to play play it close to the wire, sometimes he is going to go a bit over the top. whoop de woo, he got a red.

There were much worse things happening all the time (including on Friday night). Kelvin Skerrett, Les Boyd, Sonny Nickle, Barrie Mac, Gordon Tallis, Adrian Morley, Kurt Sorenson, Alex Murphy, Gaz Hock, Bobbie Goulding, Noel Cleal, Des Drumond Tez Newton, Andy Greg etc etc etc all had a bit of this in them and the majority (Nickle obviously excluded) are held in legendary status as hard men of the game.

Dont give me any rubbish about any of the above playing hard but fair. ALL of them had a nasty streak and were more than capable of chinning someone of the ball.

Rugby is intimidation and there are players who enjoy rattling and hurting an opponent both legally and illegally.

If they go to far, they miss a game or two. It is not the end of the world.

Having watched it a few times again, definite sending off but only because it was reckless. The initial contact was on the shoulder so it wasn't a pre-meditated attack at all.

1 game ban.

A sending off is better than an injury. At least he'll come back fit as a fiddle.

That's most definitely the glass half full argument!

Any videos anywhere of it yet?
I have seen it but have family without Sky who still haven't seen it.

It certainly is.... lol... Love it!!

Thank you. One of the few sensible posts on this ridiculous thread.

Personally I think it was a red card. But then many offences would be a red card if the rules were actually enforced correctly. Dropping an elbow onto the head of an already tackled player on the floor is at least as dangerous and cowardly as MM's late and high shot to the head of a standing player.

As for the rules, I'm not sure where in the Laws it allows a referee to be given instructions through his earpiece on what punishment to give (many people were asking who sent him off, the ref on the pitch or the one in the stands) nor where in the Laws it allows a referee to view TV footage of the incident on the screen (as he appeared to on Friday night before dismissing MM).

The standard of officiating in the SL this season has been poor. What is worse is that Wigan players and MM in particular seem to be being held to a stricter interpretation and application of the rules than those of other clubs. Many people around me were expressing the view that things are now out of hand. The different approach taken in the CC Final was being widely compared to that taken with MM.

When you add to this the apparent intervention of the fourth official and what seemed to be viewing of the TV footage by the referee, there is clearly an issue here and Wigan should call for an explanation from the RL.

One final point is that it would be nice if for once a significant proportion of Wigan fans could manage not to jump on the bandwagon of Wigan player bashing. Yes MM has been stupid on occasion this season but the lynch mob that is forming need to calm down.

Given he's lost us two games this season and not a single player in the whole of the competition has given away more penalties, I'd say he's got off pretty lightly. As my mate said to me today, he's Marmite - it's one extreme or the other with him, he either great or a complete and utter liability. Unfortunately coming into the business end of the season and there are far too many of the latter.

At the moment I don't trust him not to do it again in the play-offs or Grand Final so hope the ban is long enough to take him out of the equation.

He has helped us to win a few though.

I ain't that bothered. He has looked frazzled recently and 1 or two games rest will do him no harm. Now whilst i would be massively peed off if he received another red in any of our remaining games, i would much prefer to have him in the team.

Agreed he has helped us to win games, but not singlehanded in the way he has singlehandedly lost us two games. That's the most galling thing, I can accept players making playing errors that might cost us games, but his indiscipline has cost us two games.

In the tight play-off games the team that loses their discipline is more than likely going to lose the game and two loose cannons in McIlorum and Hock is an accident I'm hoping isn't going to happen.

Then allow me to correct that glaring oversight.

Can someone clarify when a video ref can intervene in general play.
I suspect that referee Childs got a call from upstairs when MM committed the foul on Lafranchie. Play had moved on two or three tackles when Mr Childs was heard to say "got it". Was he responding to a VR call. At the time of the incident I don't think any of the touch judges ran on for foul play.
If the VR can give advice to the referee why was the knock on try allowed in the CC semifinal against Leeds.

I'd love to know the answer to this. Child appeared to be listening to something on his earpiece prior to brandishing the red card and the assumption must be that it was the ref in the stands. Is the other referee an advisor to the ref on the field or is the ref on the field bound to follow what the ref in the stands says? Why do we need a video ref referral system if we have this procedure? Can the ref in the stands call forward passes? Are the rules for this written down anywhere - they don't seem to be in the Laws on the RFL website, but perhaps they are somewhere else?

I've been saying for some time that referees appear to penalise one side repeatedly in a game, only to then even up the penalty count and that this is probably because they are being told to by the ref in the stands. I've been assured by people on these boards that this is not the case but after Friday it does appear that the referee on the field is at least being given guidance by another official.

We really need some clarity on what is going on. Only RL, with its track record of inept governance, could allow such a ridiculous state of affairs.

Just seen the reply.

It was a red - no argument.

Fair play to the ref - far too many refs take the easy route and put the incident on report. It's just a shame that there is no consistency in these type of decisions - some players are marked men and are judged on reputation.

He is not the 1st person to have hit someone late and high this season but he's one of the few who have been sent off for it.

Just one recent example of blatant inconsistency - Paul Woods punched a player square on the jaw in the CC final early in the game - penalty.

MM punched a player after lots of niggle a month ago - straight red.

3 players sent off for punching in the previous Wigan - Saints game - 1 for a single punch.


Just because MM gets sent off he's highlighted as stupid and reckless - Woods does exactly the same thing in a far bigger game - hardly a mention of it.

Last weeks TV game of Hull v Bradford - there was the clearest case of a spear tackle i've seen - only a penalty awarded. I'm pretty certain if MM had done that it would have been red - and he would be slagged off on the forums.

It is the ref's inconsistency and pre-judged opinions about certain players that is frustrating.

I'm not defending MM's tackle or disciplinary record - but there are a number of very lucky players where if the same rules were applied then would be missing games too.

He is the worst ref in the league - Fact. Id rather have Alibert. Only thing he has got right all season is that red card - Although you can guarantee if the the EXACT same thing happens next week the player will NOT see red, I would bet my house/wife/kids/money on it. The biggest problem with the reffing in Super League is consistency.

If you get a minute look for a match report from the Hudds v Leeds game and read about the fiasco of the red card in that game.

Other examples?



Not late & high. It was handbags.



I didn't see it so cannot comment. Perhaps it was stamp down on the niggles you identify? Plenty call for ref's to do that.



It was a mass brawl at a showpiece event, the ref's would have been under direction to act firm. Personally i miss that aspect of the game, but when you've got a pair of illterate muppets in the Sky box ranting about it being a disgrace what do you expect?



Maybe his reputation does go before him. His whole game is around aggression, IMO there's nowt much else there, O'Loughlin sails very close to the wind every week but has the class to be able to get away with it.



Except it wasn't. It was a dangerous throw onto his back/shoulder.



Of the thousands of incidents that occur hardly any are identical, hence the different interpretation. There is far less consistency on these boards than from referees.

The McIlorum decision was spot on, it was a definite red card and was very foolish by McIlorum. I hope he will now learn is lesson because it is nigh on impossible these days to beat the other top teams with a man less for 65mins.

Couple of things:

1) I haven't got a list of late high challenges - there have been lots - some with leading elbows - if you think this is one of less than a handful in the season then you're probably not watching very closely.

2) The Paul Woods punch was in the CC Final - if that isn't a showpiece I don't know what is!

I too think the game is getting too sanitised - there's room for a punch or a flare up - but the rules should be consistently applied:

Tuson hit the Saints player with a single punch - that's what he was sent off for. MM hit a player with a single punch - that's what he was sent off for. Woods hit the leeds player with a single clean punch -only a penalty? Clear as day - no interpretation needed, everyone saw it, some tackles have lots of room for interpretation, was it intended, was it shoulder first, etc - there's no room for interpretation when someone smacks you in the jaw with a clenched fist.

3) So does a 'dangerous throw' which may easily have broken a players neck not warrant a sending off? Lifting a players legs high above the horizontal, dumping them onto their shoulders - it was only luck he didn't land on his head - and therefore a spear tackle. No attempt to pull out of the tackle once the legs had gone in the air. No other players involved in the tackle to alter the players momentum.
Entirely down to the tackling technique of the defender - potential for far more damage to a player than a punch.

I suggest you watch that incident again.

Heheh - my memory is going!

Mossop not Tuson!!

I am not aware of any leading elbows to the head that have gone unpunished. Please name any.



Are you saying every punch is the same & should be a sending off, or no punches warrant a sending off, it's one or the other, whichis it? Presumably the punishment for each has to be the same for consistency? A broken jaw is the same as Woods girlie slap?



I agree, subject to my comments above.



See above.



Just a few years ago that would have been acclaimed a cracking tackle. Seymour was cautioned, end of. I presume Joe Westerman's presence was as hologram.