I am a Leeds fan, and I have thought Thaler the best referee in the UK for the past three years. And not even close, he is miles ahead of everyone else. We have lost a few with him, but I still find him consistent, approachable for players, no ego, and try's to let the game flow where he can.

The best ref at the moment?

Given there's no games on right now, they're all pretty decent as referees.

Despite this, Hicks is still blowing up for a knock on, and Bentham's asking the video ref to check what his Mrs is making for tea.

Worse ref Thaler for me. Probably best ref for teams he likes.

Just to point something out on this, a kick downfield is going with the direction and momentum it gains from the kick, a pass is by and large passed backwards but the ball starts with the travelling speed of the player who passes it and will slow down its forward motion as it travels through the air.

Imagine driving a car into a wall at 60MPH. The car comes to a dead stop (0MPH) whilst you exit through the front window of the car as you are still travelling at 60MPH. You decide as the car hits the wall to try and drive into the back seat but when the car hits the wall what speed do you think you are travelling at? Still 60MPH in a forward direction despite jumping backwards.

That my friend is velocity and deceleration in action. You can't use a static line to judge a forward pass, you have to look at the direction of the hands. the direction the player was running prior to the pass and of the pass.

Maybe they should bring in the old Sunday league rule of one sub from each side reffing a half each. The penalty counts would even themselves up after half time...oh wait there...

The Video refs have already made use of a "virtual" line across the screen/pitch, this line being at right angle to the touch lines, for the purpose of determining off side at a kick.

Using the same "virtual" line by the video refs will certainly help to determine whether the ball has left the passers hands in a forward direction - if the ball crosses the line it is a forward and momentum would not be a concern. It is certainly worth using the system where a try is scored following a possible forward pass.

For that to work the virtual line couldn't be a static one like that used for offside. It would need to be a moving one. One moving in the same direction and speed as the ball was immediately prior to the ball leaving the hands of the passer.

But the pitch is a 2d area.

When looking at passes, any change in altitude resulting from the pass can cause confusion.

The best ref is the one that is reffing someone else's match.