Shocking decision. Silverwood has proved himself to be the best ref in the tournament, and he's neutral... unbelievable!!

In appointing him for the biggest international game of the year, the RLIF think he did no wrong in the England/Aus game.

Ganson ref'ed the game and his decisions were not to the Aussies liking because he called it like a SL game, not and NRL game... and they lost!

This doesn't make RL a joke, lets get that right. It makes the sport look silly to outsiders, but lets not discredit all involved with the sport and ourselves when we know better.

This makes the ARL a joke and once again highlights their bully-boy tactics in the board room.

When you have one RFL rep, one NZRL rep and two ARL reps on the board of the RLIF Australia are always going to win aren't they? I think its now time to remove one of the ARL reps and give Wales, France and PNG full board member status. A chairman should be elected from the board members, but it should not mean that another rep from their national governing body should be brought in 'to fill their place' as is the case with the ARL in the RLIF at this moment in time. Six member board, comprising of six national governing bodies, three from Northern Hemisphere, three from Southern, end of.

Spot on!

Aussies win then

Apart from making the game look bent, What sort of message dose it send to potential referees unless you happen to be Australian?. If the great Australian NRL refs are so bl**dy good a standard then why dont they have New Zealand, PNG & other south sea refs in thier competition, there would be no problem then. Super league has a French ref(& should have another one plus a Welshman) I blame the other Countrys for bending over backwards to accomodate the Aussies, it was just the oposite in cricket they were the ones who screamed to get neutral umpires.

About 20 years ago the RFL's David Oxley said....

[iAustralians have no interest in the international game. They would much prefer to be left alone to play with themselves...........and we all know what people who prefer to do that are called............[/i

I think that sums it up nicely.

Actually it was Ashley Klein who refereed the final. Ganson was the Video Ref.

I agree with everything everyone has said though; Archer getting this gig is an absolute joke and it makes International Rugby League a shambles!!!

Quel surprise.

We should re-work that old Spitting Image song about South Africans.....

Oooooooooooooooooh i've never meet a FAIR Australian!

I am sorry, you are right. Ganson was the video ref and gave NZ a penalty try towards the end of the game and it was for that reason the Aussies got the hump with Ganson.

I found the highlights here and it is telling to notice that the Gould & Sterling do think it should be a penalty try!

rlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v

They are just bloody whingers when it comes to ref's. Silverwood is far better ref than Archer and is neutral, this should be a no brainer!

NRL ref for NRL final. What's the problem? If we had a SL ref we would have 26 players on the pitch playing to a different rhythm, which would be worse for NZ than an Ozzie ref.

I'm in shock. No, honest I am.

They've been pulling this stunt for years and decades, why do out RFL allow them to get away with it?
When they decide the fixtures and venues they should name the ref and VR.
As for the semis and final then name three refs ensuring a neutral gets the game.
It's the RFL who need to get it sorted.
If the RLIF go for this rubbish in the 2013 World Cup and we have an Aussie ref in charge of a final in which the Aussies are competing they will make Rugby League look very poor with the sporting public here in the UK.