Apologies if this is posted elsewhere;
Ben Thaler is the ref.

Good news, the referee from Wakefield hates Castleford even more than he hates Leeds.

Agreed.

You want facts, here goes:-

Thaler has refereed Leeds three times this season - all won, at home against Celtic, Catalans and Hull KR.

And last season he did four Leeds games - all won.

He's officiated in two Cas' games this season - Tigers won one, lost one - and last season they lost two of the three games Thaler took charge of.

Not so bad after all is he ?

I find it sad that the referee appointment even warrants a thread on it's own.

Who really cares? It's as if you all believe referees are actually biased or something.

I'll still be having a look to see if my general impression is supported by results though.

Another interesting appointment is Steve Ganson at Hull KR.

Will he travel over on the coach with the rest of the lads?

You must have been too young to live through the Russell Smith years then if you believe that.

Seriously, I don't think that refs are biased in a sinister fashion but they do interpret the way the games is played differently & teams need to factor that in to their game plans.
Some are stricter at the PTB, some at the 10 metres, some at obstruction/crossing and others are just called Ganson.

ganson was amazing last week. pulled a couple from nowhere. i'm positive, and replays seem to back me up, he blew for a knock on, wigan got a try and he went to the video ref

I know a lot of people will disagree with this but I think that Thaler is probably about the best official we have in this country at the mo IMO

He certainly is the best of a bad bunch!