4 tries for catalans , never trie, 1 trie for bulls ..................................................wait and see boots and all

if they don't want catalans in sl they have to say

i'm to sad for sl

Ever thought that they may have been geniune no trys?

Cheers for explaining that.

Sure, we didn't have the rub of the VR, from looking at the highlights on the SLS I'm happy with the way we played, 10% more nd we'll be on a winning streak.

Things will even themselves out throughout the season and are you seriously suggesting refs will conspire to cheat Catalans. You must be deluded, also theres no relegation so how will this affect Catalans place in SL!!

I must say the idea that refs are systematically biased against the Dragons is a worry seriously entrenched in the minds of lots of Catalans' supporters. The refs are always English which does not help supporters with an average level of paranoia. But the fact that the Dragons have been very penalised these last two years does not help (sure it does not mean that it is the refs).
The last match with 4 tries refused on video and then the last one with apparently a forward pass (even mentionned on BCB) granted without video has provoked heated discussions on the forum of the Dragons. They are very upset and lots of them are convinced that the refs delibarately penalise them.

Personally I do not see why there would be any interest for the refs or the RFL to be biased against the Dragons, but the facts that the referees are principally English is slightly problematic for an international competition. I have for instance heard that the new French ref would not referee the Dragons matches. If this is true, this would be a blatant asymmetry.

To be honest, a large number of Bulls fans are convinced that the referees are biased against us. We can produce a long list of examples going back years and years, and most of us can recite the worst examples off by heart. (Advice - don't EVER ask a Bulls fan for examples of when the ref has been biased against us; you will be there listening all day...)

My guess is that Ca\talans have just had the same bad luck we have had.

Either that, or the referees and the RFL hate Catalans as much as they hate Bradford!

It is funny that you say that because I read on the Dragons' forum that the ref has been seen socialising and smiling with the Bulls team after the match (which naturally raises the suspicion of the Catalans' supporters).

Anyway, why would the refs be biased against the Bulls? There should be a reason. For the Catalans I understand the suspicion of the supporters as you may think the ref is English and he is biased toward the English team (and the fact that there is no large screen in Perpignan does not help as it raises suspicion on video decisions). But for the Bulls, why referees would be biased against them





Maybe if you ask the supporters of any team in the SL no one will say that the ref is biased in their favor and 80% will say that on average the ref is biased against them

go and sit in the corner!

as much as i'd like to think there is a conspiracy with the referees, i'm certain there isn't! we didn't get the bounce of the ball, when sheriff tried to hack the ball dead and away from bosc, it ended up clattering the post protector and bradford regained the ball!

things like that on saturday night caused me to think that if we sort our indisipline out then we will be in with a shout of most games

and just to finish, the referee didn't tell Bosc to kick the ball out on the full in the last minute!

pero, que dius!?
catalans lost, end of. discipline and decision making has been poor this season and that is something that walters has to sort out.

But video cannot judge on a forward pass.

I wouldn't argue against th ref, over the season it will balance out. Sure, you'd expect that on average 1 of 4 attempted trys would be given benefit of the doubt, but that will balance out over the season.

Cala, I think it's unfair to blame Bosc, he is only human and mistakes happen. 1-10% extra would have seen us 16+ points up and it wouldn't have mattered.

Sure, in the heat of the moment you always tend to blame the ref. If you were listening the French commentators on Orange TV, they were a bit "WTF!!" after 4 tries refused for the Catalans and one accepted for Newton where it is not clear that he grounded the ball. If you understand French you can hear them on SLTV highlights "We will need the referee to explain to us how he makes his decisions"

Personally, and after cooling down, I prefer to think that the refs are not biased. Anyway what would be their interest in being biased? And my feeling is that English fans are very happy to have the Dragons in the competition.

I was at the game and then watched it again in the bar de source after.
There was a try awarded to Catalans in the first half after they knocked on. I think the ref must have found out about this at half time and made sure he sent any 50-50's to the video ref in the second half.

One try was grounded on Morrison's knee. It was a great effort from the Bulls to prevent the try. Local fans still complained it was an unfair decision.

One of the denied tries should I think have been awarded. The others - including the Bulls denied try were correct decisions. A referee in the bar with us (nobody involved in our game) didn't have much problem with the referee decisions made.

The local crowd give the ref a lot of pressure. Water was thrown on the ref as he left the field at half time. Other refs have had things thrown at them at the ground too.

The local fans made the place sound like the JJB with constant cries of "FORWARD!!!" in passable Lancashire. They complained about our offsides too and we were offside some of the time. So were they. The ref pulled both sides for it a couple of times but it didn't really stop either team.

The Catalans crowd booed a lot of Bulls tackles because they were very hard tackles rather than high ones. Watching them in slomo on the screen after confirmed this.
Some fans obviously expected us to roll over and die and I'm glad we disapointed them!

Still, at least there were no fireworks thrown at fans this year. Match security seems much improved.

This happens every game. I've seen refs and other RFL people socialising with players, club officials and fans. I'm quite glad about this. I've felt more positive about referees after meeting one and there should be more of this kind of thing.
There have been exceptions of course. Some (mostly past) refs I wouldn't socialise with if they were the last people on earth. Ian Smith isn't one of the really bad ones.

Surely not, but you can understand that 4 tries refused are above the threshold of any naturally partial supporter in a stadium. It is just human. And I am sure you would not oppose the fact that Perpignan is a very welcoming city, worth the trip

That's outrageous.

From the French fans I have talked to, they do stuggle with the VR and feeling of bias. This could be because the fans are new to SL and the higher standards of reffing. Give them a couple years to adapt.

You also need the telecasters to adapt to the new standards. Remember that Catalan fans will never see a neutral match on tv, they will only see Catalans playing the opposition, so will never get the chance to see how it works from an unbiased pov, and the commentators will never have the chance to comment in a neutral pov.

100% will say it during or after the game, but the next day most will reluctantly agree that the ref just calls it as he sees it. And it is true that the Bradford club has a thousand more reasons to complain about video referees than any other club.

What is great is that there are so many thousands of Catalans fans who actually care, about their team, what happens to it, and this great game of ours. Long may it continue.

Actually it is not the case anymore. Orante TV broadcasts other matches too, like the last St Helens-Leeds



I think that when the Dragons will not be trailing in the fair play table supporters will be less worried about refereeing bias.

Excellent news. I knew that this was not the case last year with Sport+ and I assumed (which is normally where things go wrong). Hopefully they will get a number of the "neutral" matches and that will help educate them.