I've said it before that the current refs are no worse than the refs when i started watching in the early 80s. are they really any worse than kevin allatt, john mean or colin whitfied?

i think the majority on here agree, that irrelevant of how poor a ref is during a game(s) they dont warrant stuff throwing at them. I've hurled lots of abuse at them in the past along with opposition teams, but wouldnt even think about throwing bottles, phones, coins etc at them.

quite simple, find the idiot(s) and ban them from all games

Completely agree with you

Fred Lindop, Billy Thompson and you think that today’s ref’s are no worse

its a pity we cant do something along the lines of the barmy army.

i've been to a couple of test matches at OT, and was chatting to some of the lads there. Obviously they go to get tanked up and have a good day. The way one of them described the army was that they are basically self policing and the stewards allow them to sort themselves out inhouse (so to speak), and if anyone steps out of line they are dealt with by the barmy army and wont travel with them again. The stewards can concentrate on other matters

'Sgt Major' Eric Clay before them, also wasn't that great a ref either.

Today's refs are scrutinised with every word recorded, slow motion super zoom and any error can be shared to millions via social media. The refs back in the day could get away with a lot more.

I believe ex Swinton player Josh Barlow is taking up reffing which is good to see.

Like Grimmy said though , there are far too many young referees getting slated/abused/harassed by morons on a Sunday morning . They can only take so much before they leave the game . I’ve seen 14 year olds reffing their first games and getting abuse from the sidelines . That is tantamount to child abuse and is killing our sport . Grown adults swearing and abusing children is totally unacceptable. These are probably some the same idiots chucking stuff on to the pitch

Refs don’t always get it right ,and I have had first hand experience with Grimmy

, but I don’t shout and scream at him . The players will always make more mistakes than the officials . If somebody can prove me wrong I’ll donate my house to charity

Exactly, the abuse and foul mouth language is now part of everyday life and not just confined to officials and players in sport. You only have to look at the increasing number of programmes on television which contain an increasing amount of foul mouth language and 'over the top' use of the 'F' word to see why more and more people are being taught to be more abusive and foul mouthed.

It is therefore hardly surprising that youngster are growing up thinking that abuse of others and the use of foul mouth language in public is a accepted part of life and always has been.

It could also be said. at that the Referees of years past did not get help from elsewhere like you have stated and had to make prompt decisions of their own.

As far as am I am concerned, there is not a Referee today who can compete with John Holdsworth who was not only a good Referee making his own decisions, but also fair to all teams.

Ah, the good old days of great referees? They weren't scrutinised with trial by video as they are today. Remember the Hepworth "tackle" on Colin Tyrer at Wembley!!

Then there was Eric Clay. I was sat on the ringside at Central Park and Billy Boston had just trampled over his opposite winger and fullback for the 3rd time. There was about 10 minutes left and as Billy was walking back Clay said to him "Good try dad, make that's your last, they've had enough" Guess what, every time the ball came anywhere near Billy, Clay found a forward pass, knock on etc!!

Speaking of idiots at games, think the Leigh club may have a fine coming their way after today’s game.

I didn't hear anything at the time but there's word out on social media that monkey chants were heard from the North stand during the knee. Other than that there were one or two getting kicked out mid 2nd half but nothing major (unless something happened at full time)?

There was definately monkey noises coming from the leigh end, shocking behaviour tbh.

The fans they tried to evict ran back amongst their mates, whatever happened some of the fans were targeted for throwing out. There was an announcement about foul and abusive language so that may what the stewards were acting on.

A fan punched the mascot believe it or not. F&A language was related to the usual 'flute' song.

The noises were also coming after hanleys trys. Disgusting

If they’re scum throwing bottles on to the pitch they’re utter pondlife making racist chants. Bigots like that are the whole reason the knee is continuing and bloody well should do too.

Find them, ban them, jail them

Eyup, I'm here. I've visited Central Park and in later years the DW for over 60 years and only once seen any thing untoward from a Wigan fan.
You'll always get the odd idiots.

Orange top white cap guy was the main culprit, tried to hide by putting a black jacket on but kept his white cap on (not the cleverest are Leythers). Shouldn't be hard to identify on the stadium cameras.

The problem with local derbies and the big games is that they attract a element including some from football who do not normally go to a rugby league game.

Over the years, I have seen very little racism in rugby league at both professional and amateur games compared to what I have witnessed at both professional and amateur matches in football where it is rife both on and off the pitch.

The token gesture of players in football getting down on the knee will never stop it as the FA and EFL seemed to think it will!

I always struggle with this idea that whenever there are incidents at RL matches, it's because football hooligans have had nothing else to do that afternoon.

If that's true, football hooligans must have had nothing else to do nearly every time Wigan have played Leigh.

I agree that the derby brings out idiots, but RL can supply plenty of its own on those occasions, and Leigh can supply more than most.

To date they remain the only fans I have ever seen who once refused to throw the ball back, chanting 'we've got the ba-all, we've got the ba-all!"' More seriously, they are also the only fans I know who, more than once, have thrown bottles at the visiting team, and even plastic bottles can be dangerous when they are filled with beer, or pee, whatever it is..

I knew several Leigh fans in my first job. They were all in their early 20s, and their mindset was very different from most RL fans in that scrapping and causing trouble was a key part of their matchday experience, and they would openly brag about it on the shop floor. That was back in the 1970s, but on yesterday's form, time seems to run slower in Leigh than anywhere else.

When the day finally comes, we really will be well rid of them.

The only time a RL club has attracted a football hooligan crew at a game (in my memory) was Salford at the Challenge Cup Semi at Burnden Park back in the 80's when the Man United firm decided to have a day out against us. Before the game and during the early stages of the first half a gang of around 100-150 trying to get a rise out of Wigan fans (who were more interested in seeing their team achieve another Wembley final). I think they got fed up at half time and a few left. If I remember correctly if you watch the match on YouTube you can see trouble in the stands (away end) early on.

A few Leigh supporters on social media saying that chants made were 'Leigh, Leigh, Leigh' and not monkey noises. I really do hope this is the case. There's enough decent Leigh fans on this forum that will hopefully clarify or admit the case. Terrace chants like that need to be left in the 70s & 80s.

I’ve been a Leigh fan for around 60 years now , yeah we have our idiots I admit that , but I’ve never NEVER heard any form of racist chants from Leigh fans , nor did I yesterday.
I have plenty of banter with Wigan fans , 90% of my family are Wiganers , not just Wigan fans , whatever was chanted yesterday , I heard nothing .