Paul March, Cougars player-coach is having to serve a two month stadium ban 'just' for using a swear word when questioning a referee's decision. Not on TV, after hooter and mistaken identity anyway.

Did he?

If so then that's worse than Hardakers outburst which at least has the mitigation of happening during the heat of a game.

Neither is acceptable no matter who the comments are aimed at!
There are lines of acceptability that 99.9% of players adhere to 99.9% of the time but every now and then you get players crossing that line and they should be dealt with severely.

Back to JP, if he is on camera saying that then for a poster boy, former GB and England Captain, players spokesman and budding media pundit it's career suicide akin to Ron Atkinsons racist comment.

he gives a penalty away & says something, then as the camera goes on him your clearly see him say "you bent c¥nt" not nice but nothing will happen.

25th minute JP said it.

time the RFL grew some here. I don't follow RU but recall a player missing the Lions tour last year having been red carded for calling the ref a cheat.

The refs might not be the best in the world but the players should ALWAYS respect them. Yes sir no sir three bags full sir. It's a fundamental part of the game. It's not football. Kids are watching and doing it themselves. If anyone feels kids won't follow go and watch school football you will be shocked.
Whoever Hardaker directed it at is irrelevant. It was live on TV and is all over social media. If the press pick it up and run with it without action by club and RFL it will show the sport in a very bad light.

Edited Durham Giant

I saw that as well; the 'bent' element of the attack could easily have been referring to his decision making, but given that in certain circles it can also have homophobic connotations, it was a poor choice of words.

The myth that RL players respect the referee is well and truly out-dated now; this game provides two highly visible examples, but they are far from the exception - it's become a regular occurrence. Big daft lads, heat of the moment, tough contact sport etc - all nonsense excuses for conduct that is wholly unacceptable.

if we were to discipline players/coaches for using swear words then shaun wane would be banned every week
nearly every time the camera pans to him he is shouting obscenities and nothing ever gets mentioned.

i hate seeing RL players shouting and swearing at the ref but in the heat of the moment with tension and adrenaline running high then you can understand why.... however if a player directly swears or uses any sort of foul language to an official then he should be punished, i don't want to see RL players acting like footballers, and yes that includes danny brough!

Whether it was or wasn't mistaken identity, PM has a history of abusing officials and was serving a playing ban for the same thing at the time of his last alledged indiscretion.

How do we know it was homophobic? Maybe he was referring to the meat variety in gravy found in working class supermarkets like Iceland, frequented by people from Leeds.

After all, people call Matty Bowen a pudding because he's useless.

Regards

King James

Yep. I'm a Leeds fan, and would hate him to miss games, but the RFL must act on this. A ban is in order.

You've revealed an awful lot about yourself with this post.

We've already had a respect for the officials in rugby league that is missing in other sports (football been a good example, as as soon as the whistle is blown they get swamped by the players trying to argue with him).
As soon as you start playing the game at school level you are always taught to call the ref Sir. The last game I went to I heard somebody in the crowd shout "come on sir, that was a knock on". We get brought up to treat the refs with respect.
However it does seem that we are moving away from this. A ref now struggles to award a try without players begging for him to check it with the video ref. My opinion is that it is coming from the players becoming frustrated with certain inconsistencies within the refereeing. We all complain about it as supporters, and a lot of the players also complain on things like Twitter while they're watching the game.

I'd suggest the moderators of this forum edit the thread title, as it is in fact libellous. Were it a question rather than a statement of fact...

There is no evidence of any player in the Warrington Wolves vs Leeds Super League fixture aiming homophobic abuse at a match official. There is nothing in the match reports of the referee or match commissioner to indicate such an incident took place.

There is nothing in the video clip placed on this forum to support such an assertion.