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.