I have always said that the on report system is a joke and it is a complete cop out. I have never agreed with it and I have yet to see anything that changes my mind. People can still be sited and charged whether they are on report or not so what is the actual point of it?

I wrote to the RFL about this in 1997 nineties when we played the aussie club sides. Asked why they couldn't simply look at the screen for foul play. Got a load of BS in reply. Stupid to have the technology and not use it, we haven't progressed in almost 15 years with this aspect. It needs instant feedback.

Here's the match report,

The game hinged on a suspiciously-looking forward pass that put winger Nick Zisti over for the try that gave Hunter a crucial 18-14 lead after 65 minutes.

"One wrong decision cost us the game," claimed Wigan coach Eric Hughes. "To me, it was a long, long way forward, and it was crucial. It was the major turning point.

"It was very disappointing because we were representing Britain. I just hope we can get one side through to the final.

"We certainly had a chance. The game was there for us but it was taken away from us."

The other major talking point was the alleged tripping by former Wigan ace Tony Iro on current favourite Henry Paul five minutes before half-time.

Referee Russell Smith, who had a tough time trying to keep a ferocious encounter under control, appeared to be reaching for his pocket when he noticed that Kris Radlinski was in a position to take advantage and score a try. Smith, perhaps understandably, twice took the easy option by passing on the crucial decision-making, calling for the video referee to rule on the try and the League's executive to examine Iro's actions.

Theres a blast from the past

I know we won the game but i am pretty pee'd of that our big lads never gave any fight back.

Peacock, Morley, Westwood, Carvell are the guys who should have busted a few Kiwis in response. I know we did the right thing and kept to the game plan and therefore won the moral victory, but Luke and Smith should have been made to bleed for $hit housing.

In times gone by we would have downed tools and let the opposition team know that it wont be tolerated, GB/Eng have very rarely been out muscled in a scuffle. With the game won it should have been open season on a Kiwis head.

Also i dont know who Benji was trying to kid with this "hard man" act he was into last night. Comical from a complete wuss.

I must admit, I was disappointed by the Kiwi tactics. They clearly were under orders to injure our pivotal players. But when it didn't work, they didn't have much of a back-up plan. Perhaps Kearney isn't all he's cracked up to be?

They were missing an awful lot of players though as well. NZ have never really performed that well against England for years in this country, similar to how England always play poorly in NZ, and this year was no exception.

I thought some of the 'tactics' employed by the kiwi's last night were nothing short of disgusting! There was clearly intent to injure Tomkins, Chase and Reed and yet nothing was done by the ref. I agree that in games like this there is absolutely no point in placing an incident on report, the ref should be taking action especially when it is clear from what he said that he did see what had happened.

However I am so proud of what the boys did out there last night and i'm glad we did take the moral high ground by not getting drawn into a fist fight with them, I can guarantee we would have felt the full force of the ref if we had!!
Well done lads....lets stick it to the aussies next week!!!

Yeh great and then next week against the aussies we have people banned

Im glad we didnt 'down tools' and have a punch up, instead we used the tools to beat them

I find the tactics totally against what the Hakka is all about.

ie this is a line, you step over it and we warriors will retaliate in honor of our people and you will get a smack round the chops......

Then they start with the cowardly cheap shots on already prone players?. I does not fit at all.

A man on man fist fight is fair enough but all the warrior code type thing is dispelled when you act like a coward.

Jury is still out on Kearney like you said, especially if this was premeditated.

What we did last night was totally the right way to play the game. What i am saying is that a large part of me wanted to see some retaliation. I know that that is not right but it would certainly have been justified.

And you can stop with the "yeah great" type reply's. Its not big and its not clever

Isaac Luke wants banning for a while and a big fine the 5hithouse, would have loved someone to chin him for doing that to Chase.

Correct me if I'm wrong but i thought yellow cards are for technical infringements and not for foul play. Therefore the ref could not give yellow cards and his only option was penalty and no further action or penalty and on report or penalty and straight red. The elbow should have been red and the chase incident was clearly seen as a deliberate attempt to injure a player unfairly and therefore should also have been red.
I'm glad we stayed above it all and stuck to playing rugby.

As far as I'm aware, grapple tackles and chicken wings are a couple of things that warrant a sin bin.

I was shocked by how New Zealand played last night. I know they had a weakened team, but never expected them to try and win the game by using blatant housing tactics. The on report rulings where winding me up. How on earth does it benefit England in the context of that game? A penalty.. yet the players who are committing the foul can stay on the field and maybe get a ban for a game in the future which may not even involve England.

The NZ player may end up being punished in the end but England will gain no advantage whatsoever so what is the point?..

Went last night , watched it this morning, NZ cheap shots, well done England for not getting dragged into giving away penalties and retaliating, as for the refs, bottlers, on TV he said " forearm to the head, no more " no more should have straight red.
Looking forward to next week, let's we are not talking about the ref but I suspect we will be.

I have said it for a long time now and will say it again - the "on-report" is nothing other than an excuse for referees to cop out of making a decision - it is a disgrace to the game and should be scrapped. It started out as a reasonable idea but now has become utterly discredited.

Last night the incident with Chase was exactly why it should be binned - the referee can clearly be heard saying that he saw what happened - in which case he should have absolutely no excuse not to take action - in this case a red card. If Luke does not get a very long ban then the game is in a worse state that I thought.

I think T.Leuiuai was also shocked by the housing tactics used last night. Tommy could easily have caught Sammy on that last run, as Sammy was nowhere near top speed. Last "attempt" at a tackle was a missed (by a country mile) ankle tap by none other than Tommy Leuluai, who, playing for Wigan, would've executed perfectly without breaking a sweat.

exactly....ban it, and make the refs take action on the field.

Chase tackle was a disgrace....how many players did we have up before the beak for dangerous leg tackles?..non as bad as that.
and there was a blatant attempt at a chicken wing on Briscoe? that went completely un noticed (except by me)

OK - I can see why they don't use the video ref for potential 'on report' issues. Where do you draw the line? Set the line too low, and you risk the game being very 'stop start' with virtually everything being referred upstairs, with referees using 'suspected foul play' as an excuse for a second look at something they missed, where there clearly isn't any.

The ref is in radio contact with all of his match officials, so maybe - however this may be long winded - the referee needs to consult everyone, and if one is of the opinion that there was 'definitely' foul play, then the ref is allowed to refer it. Even better, maybe borrow the rule from NFL where the coach or the captain is allowed to appeal to the ref to refer the decision?

Luke 2 match ban, Smith one match. www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... 1ng0d.html

Luke 2 match ban, Smith one match. www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... 1ng0d.html

I've only ever seen the 'on report' option used correctly once.
GB were playing Australia at Huddersfield and the tocuh judge saw what he thought was a stamp by an Aussie whilst playing the ball but wasn't 100%. The ref stopped the game put it on report but because it was not clear that an infringement had occured played on.
The on-report as I have always understood it is a tool for the referee to highlight a potential incident but is not certain that anything untoward has actually taken place.....in other words if the referee or touch judge has seen an incident clearly enough to penalise it then he has all the information he needs to make a decision on any further action. Thus, in my opinsion, any incident warranting a penalty should never need to be put on report!

As for that clown allegedly refereeing on Saturday, how he could tell Isaac Luke that his actions were a deliberate act to injure a player and then not send him off is beyond me. What is worse is it now looks like he is going to get the final - the complete lack of accountability for the referee and his blatant deficiencies just goes further to damage the credibility of international RL!

The standards of international refs are very poor, ive just watched the game and the red card should have been shown at least twice to NZ players and the ref clearly bottled it

And, if you read the report, the NRL allows players to count pre-season friendlies against the ban - so they'll both be back for the first round proper.

In other words, no punishment at all really.

Add to that Tony Williams being banned for the Wales game he could well have missed anyway, and it's all a bit pointless.

XBrettKennyX posts something sensible...................................I need a lie down

I see the NZ players have now withdrawn their appeals.... though since they will be able to serve out their bans during NRL trial games it is hardly a punishment.

Once again RL has brought itself into disrepute. This is a complete farce of a system.