Maybe the refs mirror the playing standard. Higher standard players with better coaches = better refereeing.

I think there's a lot of observational bias going on when it comes to referees and comparing them to the NRL.

Do I think that the Australian referees are much if any better than ours? No, not really. Both sets of referees on both sides of the world will call events as they see or interpret them. That means that both sets will make dubious and incorrect calls.

Our refs work under much harder circumstances. Our referees have double the workload of NRL referees, they don't have the luxury of video replays at every game and they don't get the support from the governing body that they should in my view.

It would be a much better sport if large sections of the supporter base didn't default to blaming the referee for their team's failures. It seems more prevelant in RL than most sports and I don't think that's because the referees aren't good enough. If you think that they aren't, rlbe the change you want to seerl.

At the bare minimum we should have players playing the ball correctly. The refs in SL should be insisting that the play the ball in inforced as right now it looks like a joke.

Yesterday was an example of the game at its best, on all levels, but let’s not pretend it’s like that every week down under. There are plenty of dubious calls on a weekly basis, check out the league unlimited forum and you’ll see referrees getting just as much a bashing as on here.

Ashley Klein (one of the refs yesterday) spent 5 years in Super League, learned his trade here in fact. I seem to remember him getting plenty of stick when he was here too. The standards of the players don’t help the refs here as much as anything.