Well if cricket managed to work out 20 years ago that home umpires are generally obliged to side with the home side, why hasn't Rugby League?

Having said that, on the occasions English refs have taken charge of GB/England vs. Australia games, they have been more than fair for both sides.

Jeebus, we even let them bring their own ref in 2003! That's when the RFL should have said "Enough!", and insisted on a panel of International referees for all games.

McNamara or Graham should come out now and tell it like it really is, instead of hiding behind diplomatic answers.

Lam played S o O as his first club was Brisbane Norths hence his Queensland qualification.
Aus v England in Australia with an Aussie ref. That's supposed to be impartial?
That is partial, partisan and biased.
Decisions made bringing that about are rotten to the core!

People keep saying we were making loads of mistakes, but would this have been the case had we not been knackered and demoralised by a bent ref? Anyone who plays any sport knows that mistakes happen when morale and concentration levels drop due to fatigue.

I'm not sure corrupt is the right word but there are major problems with the fabric of international rugby league.

When you have an Australian refereeing Australia he can go one of 2 ways. Either be biased towards Australia or be biased towards the opposition because he is trying too hard not to be biased towards Australia. It's only natural and is unfair to put a referee in that postion. I'd rather have a s**t neutral ref than a fantastic partizan one. All internationals HAVE to be reffed and video reffed by neutrals.

Secondly, once a player has represented a country he has chosen his rugby league nationality and should no longer be permitted to play for any other nation, developing or not.

I don't expect us to go down under and whallop the Kiwis and Australians but i do expect a fair crack at the whip, in all honisty i don't feel we got that this time.

Thinking about referees. I assume the international board is made up of representatives from each nation. So if it is England v Austraila, the representatives of those nations should have no say in the selection of the referee hence he would be selected by New Zealand, France, Wales and whoever else is on the board.

I don't trust Archer. Seen his hairdo?

Quote: Eastbourne Warrior "Thinking about referees. I assume the international board is made up of representatives from each nation. So if it is England v Austraila, the representatives of those nations should have no say in the selection of the referee hence he would be selected by New Zealand, France, Wales and whoever else is on the board.'" Scroll down to my comment; viewtopic.php?f=2&t=475484 Tried to explain the RLIF set up. Quite biased.

Quote: Eastbourne Warrior "Thinking about referees. I assume the international board is made up of representatives from each nation. So if it is England v Austraila, the representatives of those nations should have no say in the selection of the referee hence he would be selected by New Zealand, France, Wales and whoever else is on the board.'" Scroll down to my comment; viewtopic.php?f=2&t=475484 Tried to explain the RLIF set up. Quite biased.

great write up by abloody south african RU journalist www.newstime.co.za/column/NigelO ... s/17/2518/

great write up by abloody south african RU journalist www.newstime.co.za/column/NigelO ... s/17/2518/

Scrub Internationals against the Aussies, and let them just play amongst themselves.
They can cheat all they want then

The thing is I think the current administration would be quite happy with that. They would just claim Origin as the pinnacle of the game, it's arguable that they already do value Origin over internationals. The whole thing is a pathetic and bizarre joke.

The reason that Origin has been given the so called Pinnicle status is that there is no interest in watching one sided contests. If GB/England had won something in the last few generations this may not have occured.

I know the maroons have won 5 series on the trot, but there is still a contest in the games and no doubt that NSW will turn things around.

NZ winning the WC and the Tri Nations a few years ago sparked a bit of interest back in the internationals in Australia. I'm sure if England could win a trophy or two we would see more focus on internationals from downunder.

Maybe they should stop picking Tongans and Fijians and everyone else might get a look in.

As a GB fan who has been watching the game since 1982 and the international game since Wembley 1990, I have never been as disgusted as by the "perfomance" of the officials in the game on saturday. It is a miracle that my GB shirt is not floating down the Yarra river.

As we are all stakeholders in the game in that we buy tickets, book hotels in Victoria etc, it seems the only way to end this farce is to make our views known to the ARL in that this issue needs to be sorted ie neutral appointments. I suggest that we mount an anti Glazier style protest for those attending the final in Brisbane (to be carried into the Four Nations next year) - this would involve all England fans buying an England scarf and wearing it with their kit in a Mancini style knot at the game.

It may not be as distinctive as green and yellow scarves but if enough genuine fans participate it will be picked up by the media. This will be a reminder to the ARL and their cohorts that our patronage cannot be taken for granted.

Surprisingly the aussie fans around me in Melbourne shared the same views about Archer and the fact that their team didnt need the leg up which he provided. It is quite simply killing interest in the international game (which seemed to peak around 1992 with the World Cup Final) from which we have retreated to 25K venues in the heartlands. We need to get back to that period to recapture national interest and in order to do that we need to respect the history of the international game and avoid this nonsense about australian referees reffing their national side on home soil. This is not Mr Archer's first offence and he has had his two strikes in this regard.

In aussie parlance, all we are asking for is a "fair go" - you couldnt knock the effort of the england lads on saturday and in the circumstances, you also have to admire their self control. It is disrespecting the international game to let this situation continue so it seems the logical conclusion is that it is up to the major stakeholders, the genuine fans to do something about it.