Mr Alibert, is fit enough to keep up with the play, he's brave enough to stick his head into the ruck, which cuts down the arm, leg trapping nonsense favored by a certain wigan fullback. At first glance I thought that pass was forward, but the over head camera proved Alibert to have made the correct decision. During his first season he did seem slightly muddled at times but this was probably due to his English being a little rusty. He doesn't have "favorites" and he's not interested in showing off, he just gets on with his job.
I remember one of the Catalans props mutter something under his breath in French at a Crusaders game. Mr Alibert marched him 10 meters

Yeah,could have sworn he held up both hands as though Creagh was going off for 10 ?

not a bad job, got the calls right

couldve sent ben creagh to the sin bin for professional foul but was happy he didnt

couldn't imagine any other ref doing any better than him,with regards to neutrality etc IMO

Whether it was forwards or not, the touch judge was bang in line with the incident, surely it was his call not the Ref’s.

I love the World Club Challenge, with the Aussies not having started their season, it’s a great leveller.

Memo to the RFL, have the Four Nations in February .

Thierry did well last night. At least he doesn't continually call the players 'mate' like certain other refs. He is also up with play all the time and was well positioned for each of the tries.

Especially that Wigan try when he ran inbetween the Wigan player (Carmont?) and the chasing defender. I thought he was fairly poor, but that had nothing to do with neutrality, I think he's a very inconsistent ref in general.

I think he was stopping the clock if it was the holding on the line with a couple to go? Maybe could have been a yellow but I thought he had a generally good game

To be honest I didn't notice he was there most of the time and in my book thats a good nights work. Have seen him have a couple of absolute shockers though in the past.

So is Eddie Hemmings. However the difference between both is that Alibert will go out week after week after week and referee 34 players in front of fans and coaches baying for his blood. What does Hemmings do? Sit in a warm studio for 30-45 minutes spouting nonsence, then commentating on the game and always picking up all the negative aspects and never anything positive.

If Eddie ever had the balls to put himself in the position that Alibert is in, he would s*** his pants. Same with Phil Clarke. He goes on and on about the technical side of things, but has he got the balls to go into coaching. Not a chance. He's happy with his cushy number, with no responsibility whatsoever.

And anyway, on the subject of Alibert, I thought he had a very good game last night.

When he first came into SL he was dire. Hes not the best ref in the world but his improvement has been huge. Lets hope he carries on that way

it is,and always has been a question of consistency from each referee at all games and not their personal interpretations of the rules of the game at any given time.

no disrespect to any ref (except Mr Child who I believe is c**p) I feel the most consistent ref is Mr Bentham - but everyone will have their own preferences obviously.