1st one against Leigh , 1 st one against sheffield was after around 30 minutes

Dont forget though , us Championship clubs dont ' Cheat ' as much as SL clubs

sorry lads,just remembered Mr Hicks is now SL reffing - well deserved and good luck to him for 2011

There's a certain irony in the way he referees games. Every game I've ever been to each sides supporters are shouting for a penalty at every PTB. Child, more often than not shares that view and gives a high penalty count.

Still the supporters are not happy. It's what makes RL such a great game.

Fans ' cheating ' , putting their club before the ' good of the game ' ? , never

First game I ever saw him do was Rovers vs Wakefield and I thought he was very good (Hull KR lost btw). Since then he has, for me, gone into the category of refs that are impressed by reputation and I dread getting him against the more successful teams (Bentham and Alibert are the fairest to the underdog IMO, for slightly different reasons). He does also tend to get into a rut of blowing for every little thing, which can be frustrating - especially if your team is on the receiving end!

Thomason is easily the best ref in the CC IMO. Lets the game flow which makes for a much more entertaining game. Complete opposite of James 'Centre of Attention' Child.

Crusaders were lucky not to get penalised more yesterday for the number of high shots they were doing. Harris needs to look at the tackling technique of his players as I think a tougher referee would have used cards yesterday to stop the persistent high shots.

From experience, I can tell you he's a humourless sod on the field as well.

He worked a touch tournament I was playing in a few years ago and I've never seen an official less interested in a bit of banter and more up his own backside.

Its a well known fact the Australians ' cheat ' more than british sportsmen , thats why you lot used to do quite well in SL , wereas now your rubbish

I've not seen that Leaguefan character on here yet. Doesn't he tend to try and turn these threads around and pour scorn upon the players and coaches because he feels that the referees are infallable and are all blameless?

That'll be his sunbed tan.

If I remember right wasn't it Child that hammered us with about 12 penalties against Saints when we were by far the most disiplined side in the comp up to that point?
If it is I remember even the SKY guys saying that we were very hard done by that night.

I am convinced the quality of refereeing has deteriorated since they went full-time. Child is a good example of it.

Why?

When they were part-time, they could have a decent-paid main job and so were far from totally dependent on the RFL money. Just as well, too. This meant (IMO) you tended to get guys who where were both good at the referring job - because they enjoyed it and wanted to do it - and could afford to do it. Kirkpatrick (who IMO developed from a struggling rookie to a first-rate official) was a good example. And remember Cummings was a teacher.

Now its full-time, the salaries on offer are hardly likely to be enough to make a guy rich, I suspect? And what does the guy do when he has to retire from being a ref when all he has done is be a referee for years? So does anyone think that - in the main - you are always going to get the very best candidates for the job?

The cynics and conspiracy-therorists might also say that a part-timer, with decent outside income, might be less amenable to following any alleged "team orders" from the RFL than a full-timer might be.

If I was dictator, I would allow both full-time and part-time SL referees. And they would get picked on performance regardless. We'd not have lost Kirkpatrick that way, IIRC?