And interestingly he used to meet with the SL coaches on a regular basis to discuss the refereeing until some of them stopped going. Now I can understand it for the London and Catalan coaches to not get to every meeting but everyone else has had their chance to express their views and understand the interpretation but it seems some aren't interested.
Maybe if the players had feedback from their coaches from those meeting they'd have a clearer idea of what would be penalised and the ref's would get some input from a players point of view.

yep, great point

How much clearer can the guidelines be than;



I'm sorry but I'm at a loss.

at last, we agree on something then ....

Shock horror, read all about it - Two Posters On Message Board Disagree (a bit) Shock!!

Btw, you seem to know, or expect, more than is good for anyone about the minutiae of behind the scenes activity at Rot Hall - I do hope you've not been stalking anyone, or even worse, criminalising your butler by making him do it...

The clubs are a joke & a disgrace. They are ruining the game. Terrible & baffling decision.

some clubs are - but it's the inconsistency of refs who are killing the game

agreed though - dialogue between clubs & refs would be a big plus

The game is not being killed.

HTH

It was a failed attempt at irony. The suggestion that refs are killing the game I find so ludicrous to be not believable. I think people have other issues they need help with if that is the case. I know from your posts elsewhere that you are one of the sensible tendency so find this more baffling. All you have said so far is refs need to be more consistent & Cummins tell them to be less ambiguous. I have quoted the ruling ad nauseum, what more can be said? Someone is tackled, there are hands all over the ball, it comes out - it was either stripped or lost, they are the only options, the officials have to call one or the other. Please tell me what other interpretation an official can make.

no irony at all - i'm really not clever enough for that sort of thing

there's more to RL inconsistency or bad reffing or bad interpretation or whatever we wish to call it than ball stripping (AT THE PTB) which was intended to be an example but the problem is more widespread - ie. forward passes which even you have to admit have been badly policed recently ? surely when everyone in the stands can see it why can't the TJs help out or is there some kind of directive which prevents this ? The high tackle is another grey area, the offside rule enforcement is becoming a joke, incorrect play of the ball is very rarely strictly adhered to,the tackle in the air is becoming nonsensical,scrums are a farce so just do away with them, obstruction is another grey area, the shoulder charge which really is up for discussion surely ?, et al.....
now, there are rules in place with punishments commensurate with the offences so where is the problem ? it should be a doddle for officials to get the correct decision without too much hassle but no ! the wide ranging interpretation by refs - that word 'inconsistency' again is killing the game as an enjoyable pastime for me ! what's so difficult about policing a game of RL ?
Liason with the officials & clubs is needed to get things sorted or the RFL needs to get refs better trained to cope with the modern day game
ok, we know officials will get it wrong occasionally but the past couple of seasons have been an utter joke added to that some VR decisions that beggar belief !
there have even been occasions this season where conversions or penalty kicks have been ruled out when the ball has clearly been inside the posts !!! and that's WITH video proof ! - I give in.....

None. It's primarily a call for what has been seen by the ref - stripping or lost ball. If he has seen neither and the ball is loose (whether it goes forward or not seems immaterial) what does he call? He must make a call - there is no alternative.
He might consider the body shape and hold of the ball from the attacking player, together with the body shape and tackling arm(s) of the defender(s) as to the probable cause. But that's then only a judgement call of best guess forced on him.
Players of all games practice cheating and are coached to do so. RL at the top level is no exception. This makes it hard for even a good ref to do his job well.

AS a HKR supporter I thought the Ref got most of the crucial decisions right and made some weird decisions for both teams. FWIW the Bulls deserved the win and none of his decisions or lack of affected the outcome.

The problem with your suggestion that the crowd is the best indicator is that everyone in the home stands yells “forward” at very regular intervals when on the majority of occasions, it is no such thing. They also do not yell “forward” when a home player makes a suspect pass. Of course the odd forward pass will be missed, though the prominent ones I’ve seen do seem to be TJ calls not ref calls. But I certainly don’t see it as a problem on the increase.


Nope.


Look, it never helps your argument to start making strident claims that something is “a joke” or “a disgrace”. This is worth evidentally zero. Again, offside seems to me to be policed pretty much as it ever was, and in TV games where you have the luxury of slo mo and rewind, you can see that most of the time there actually isn’t a problem.


Here the refs certainly do the RFL’s bidding, as I understand it the player only needs to make a “genuine attempt” . You may disagree with this, but it’s not a ref issue, take it up with the RFL.


Absolutely not. I can’t easily remember any instance where a certain tackle in the air was not penalized. Have you any examples, or are you just listing every possible infringement, and claiming for each that the reffing of it is a joke and a disgrace?


Again, the scrums are what the RFL want them to be, it is nothing to do with the refs.


Indeed it is. How is that observation in any way relevant to your general argument that refs are crap? In fact, I’d say that disallowing of tries or the giving of penalties for obstruction is one area where we have had MORE consistency and clarity this season, move behind a runner and you will be penalized.


It is being discussed, but again, what’s your point? At the moment it is legal in many circumstances and illegal in few, but I see no evidence that the referees are doing anything wrong with regard to it?


No, sorry, I’m not having that. What al?


Having several thousand people like you screaming rubbish, swearing you are blind, all of whom could do better, and half of which entirely disagree with the other half over nearly every decision you make. Maybe you should try it.


.. but not as far as a disgrace, yet, then? Oh well, that’s something.

hows about if the ref asks the TJs for help occasionally ?

in two televised games at the GB (one for SKY and the other Bien Sports) messers Thaler & Roby gave penalties in important positions and once in both games the original decision was overturned and the penalty awarded to the other side - obviously the refs had had feedback from the VR - just how it should be, the correct decision was made - it's so easy !