Quote: The Last Border Raider "There is only one word for this decision - DISGRACEFUL.
This presumably explains why Archer won "International Referee of the Year" to cloak this decision with some legitimacy.
It was a refreshing change at Eden Park to see 2 neutral referees for the two games and in fairness two good referring performances with little of contention in either games.
And then for the game that matters we are back to this FARCE and it brings international rl into contempt. Australia have the benefit of the best players, a tribal Queensland crowd in Brisbane for a team with 10 Queenslanders in it and to top it off a tame referee who in the previous game seemed to be on one to one terms with "Cammy" Smith.... If NZ do pull this off it will be against significant odds..and not even the hope of a level playing field from the ARL/RLIF.
It pains me to say this but the only option seems to be to withdraw our custom as stakeholders (ticket and merchandise buyers etc) unless the credibility of the sport and the international game we all love is restored. I dont even want to think about what a regular sportsfan (non-regular RL viewer) would think about this decision.'"
Poor decision. The last paragraph is a though.