Ok, so Cobb is not the best referee, but he hardly cost us the game.

As for forward passes - loads around me were shouting"forward" at least once in every Widnes set, you can usually tell if a pass if forward if those directly in line call it so - rarely did this happen. Plus very few people know the rules -

A PASS CAN ACTUALLY GO FORWARD SO LONG AS IT IS THROWN IN A BACKWARD DIRECTION (ie momentum rule)

For what its worth I think RL has generally got excellent referees, if you watch a game on TV after seeing it live you get a different view of decisions - most they get spot on and as said earlier, have a go yourself if you can do better.

I couldn't disagree with you more. I think the standard of officiating in rugby league is atrocious and undermines our sport.

If you look at all the rules then it would be virtually impossible for any human being to keep tabs on everything that is going on. Even with the benefit of a tv replay it's difficult to keep tabs. You've only to take the PTB as an example to see how many offences can be committed in the immediate vicinity. Trial by tv replay takes no prisoners.

Correct. We were dreadful yesterday. Cobb is being used as a scapegoat for a extremely poor second half performance. Widnes' 1, 6, 7 and 9 were on top form yesterday. We were beaten by a better and faster team. Put it to bed and move on.

Cobb blew for our two key "forward passes" instantly, himself. There was no delay for a TJ call. It was clearly him

It doesn't help to attribute "he cost us the game" views that nobody, so far as I can remember, has actually claimed. The thread is just bemoaning how appallingly bad Cobb was, and indeed it was very largely one-sided.

Widnes almost certainly would have won anyway, but we'll never know for sure, because the game we should have been able to watch never took place, instead it was the Cobb Mystery Spectacle.

He really isn't. If he is, then who by? I can't work out how people keep jumping to this strange conclusion.

Plus, your remark the "we were dreadful" is also wrong. We were dreadful in the second half, but despite Cobb we were extremely worthy of the huge round of applause we got going in at half time. We couldn't get to the levels of the Salford game, but had put in a damn good first half shift, in the face of adversity.

Cobb was atrocious yesterday, simple as. He shouldn't be anywhere near a game of this standard.

IMO he's clearly effected by the negative criticism from the clubs fans whether its conscious or not. Yet he seems to be the RFL's golden boy.

Anyone who has playe dthe game will know that the referee CAN change the game.

Widnes were constantly off side (2-3m in some cases) which results in lack of momentum.

Add this to Widnes allowed to get away with forward passes yet Bulls penalised. Sames rules for everyone doesn't count in his book.

Game was completely ruined and the players were out on their feet at the end due to sheer amount of defence they faced.

We may well have lost (probably would have because Widnes had too much size and quality for us) but it would have been a lot closer.

Don't mind losing when the efforts gone in which I think it did. Shame Silverwood got injured.

I have made the point on other outlets that most Bulls fans are in agreement that Cobb's officiating was dubious. Most Bulls fans are also in agreement that the Bulls were awful. The two are mutually exclusive. The fact we got thumped doesn't override how poor he was, so we do have a right to moan at his performance. The two things are not linked, however, so the ones calling us to be quiet on the Cobb front are probably misinterpreting others here.

That's my view anyway.

Thought we were outplayed in every department by Widnes, which I guess many of us largely expected - they were too big, too strong, and had far too much class for us, but, of course, they are a Super League side and we're not.

I'm disappointed that the RFL didn't show the game a bit more respect, given that 'every second counts', [or whatever..] and send a Super League referee. I've forgiven him his inexperience before, and I accept, it isn't totally his fault as the RFL keep chucking him in to games which are clearly way beyond his competence level, but he was truly awful yesterday. I can forgive poor decisions, after all there are 'dodgy' decisions every game, but not when they all go one way and ruin what should have been a decent match. Not that it changed the result, but it was almost as though he had an agenda, set before kick off, course that can't be true, can it?

Wasn't there an announcement before the game that Silverwood was supposed to ref this game originally - but he's injured himself? Did anyone else hear this. Not quite sure what happened as I'm sure I saw Cobb down for this game on Thursday-ish

So this would mean that the so called 'flat pass' should also be penalised.

That is exactly my point about Child, when he reffed Leigh v Wakefield. On reviewing his decisions against Leigh, there can be no dispute that they were correct. Our 'discipline' was at fault. It's just that his decisions all went one way - for me, it seemed that Wakefield got away with more, because of our indiscipline. (sounds crazy, I know, but he didn't appear to see their indiscretions)

Now, we then got Child again, for the Sheffield match and it appeared that he was carrying on from the previous game. To issue a 'team warning' on conceding our FOURTH penalty, (when Sheffield had already conceded FOUR) seemed a bit hasty, and not at all impartial. It was a nailed-on certainty, that we would get someone sin-binned in the next set, and that is exactly what happened to Ridyard - a player who isn't exactly high up on anyone's list of 'sinners'!

I'm sure no ref is 'biased' but all we can ask is that they are a bit more even handed in controlling these games.

On the subject of SL referees, is it just my imagination that they allow defenders more time to clear the tackle, than Championship refs do?

Just watched the SL Show and in the cold light of day - the Widnes passes complained of were indeed objectively forward - two of them shockingly so, to the extent that I find it hard to accept a pro ref could claim not have been fully aware of it. No wonder the Bulls players - usually very phlegmatic - were spitting chips, and almost got into more bother with Cobb. They knew. Everybody in the ground knew.

Perfect summary for me - only twice this season have I wanted to head butt the floor in frustration and only twice.

Leigh away on Widnes at home - common denominator is Cobb.

My heart sank when I saw the announcement and what followed was utterly predicatable...

He looks about 12 - so we appear to have a lot of years ahead where we have to live with this problem