and again I say the playoffs are NOT intense due to a step up in the Quality of Rugby League, they are simply hyped up by Eddie hemmings and ref'd by bungling fools who simply ignore the rule book that they have been bumbling along with all season.......

one of the most important games of the season and not one but a handful of appalling game defining decisions were made by Thaler........

I mean the clown does Atkins last week in a moment of pedanticness (not a word.dont care!)by saying BOTH feet behind the line, yet Jamie Peacock stands at the side of the guy playing the ball. Not in front and to the side, but literally by the effing side of him... and kills 5 tackles for Catalan on the leeds line........for me thats the worst of a long list of howlers tonight

the intensity has not ramped up at all. The importance of the game has and the importance of the bungling refereeing decisions have and when they go wrong eddie can scream like a banshee and say something clever about playoff football and leeds being here before and not writing off the Saints blah blah, but the product is not the same that has been played out all season to a reasonably high standard due to the way the games are ref'd and thats wrong.

i'm at a loss to understand these play off games, its a feckin good job we dont win many so i dont have to.

Well that's Wigan v Leeds

Saints v Winners of tomorrow

Saints v Leeds final
boring.

---was not on about wire?was on about wembley bottlers and g/f bottlers?,feel free to enlighten me about what is wrong with that statement?

Do you not think Wigan would pick Hull should they beat us tomorrow?

we will beat hull tomo and hopefully have a decent pack back to play saints next week , pay back !

Cummings is nothing more than a jelly-fish, the standard of refereeing this year has been nothing short of "Shocking" and instead of steadily improving as the season progressed, it has rapidly declined week on week, quite simply through lack of actions on his behalf. At times he defends the indefensible and seemingly turns a blind eye to some shocking decisions, instead of taking action to try to ensure that they dont occur again. He`s been the Match Official's Director for over a decade now and i have to say that there simply hasnt been any improvement in officiating in this time, in fact i would say that the standard has actually declined, not only that, there doesnt seem to be a "next wave" of referees standing in the wings waiting to take their place in superleague, (this is reflected in his seeming unwillingness to demote/suspend officials who perform abysmally on a regular basis), and in my opinion this should`ve been one of the first things he addressed when he took up his position all those years ago, yet, to this day, we still seem short of officials that are of the required standard!
Cummings needs to step aside now, for the good of our game and the RFL need to appoint someone who is capable of raising the standard of refereeing in SL and more importantly, sorting out the actual lack of SL standard referees in our game, Cummings has been unable to do this in over a decade, so cant see him being capable of sorting this out in the coming 10 years, can you?

Every one that is continually moaning about the refs, then please all contact Stuart Cummins and sign up to learn the role. What I also find funny is Eddie and Steveo saying " that was a blatant knock on, how did the ref miss that" this is usually said on the second or third reply.

The ref's job is bloody hard and will never be right.

Was thinking the same myself. Everyone goes on about consistency with referees, but it'll never happen from one ref to the next. Thaler refs differently to Silverwood who is different again to Ganson. It is up to the players to adapt to their different styles. But what chance does anyone have when, in two of the biggest games of the season, the same referee can see such similar situations completely differently.

Perhaps time to consider the aussie two ref system? Didn't think it would work when they announced it TBH but at the moment either the games become too fast for one man (and the TJs are just a waste of a perfectly good flag, cept for Childs who's just a waste) and teams are getting crafty about milking it or the standard really has gone down dramatically .... or both.

Either way, must be worth considering. What's the alternative?

At the risk of being shot, I don't see too big an issue with the refs. The vast majority I decisions are correct, I can't remember too many (any? Cue corrections!) games where the 'wrong' team won cos of the ref, and the quality and nature of games seems fine to me.

There's other things I'd be focusing my energy on, and trying to get people to focus on f I were running the RFL (structure of the season, youth development, intensity of the SL comp, number of teams able to field teams in NL1, etc, etc)

Didn't say Catalans was in England. One of the main problems with the English game, compared to Aus, is that the same teams contest the big prizes year on year.

It's an extremely hard job. Two refs have to come in soon. It is a much more tidy ruck/PTB in the NRL, not saying messing around doesn't happen there (it does) but it seems like every single tackle here someone has their hands in the ball, pulling the standing arm from under the player, turning him over too much or trying to milk the penalty with stupid actions.

While one ref takes the defensive line back ten, the other makes sure the ruck is good.

It doesn't have to be a quick PTB, I don't mind three in to tackle slowing it down as long as it's the same for both sides and there's little to no messing about. There is a difference and I see it in the NRL so it can happen here.
An extra pair of eyes is always going to be useful.
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Catalan-Leeds was a very good game last night.

The truth is, we've not had ONE good referee, in my RL watching lifetime

We've gone from the bent
Billy Thompson
John Smith
Robin Whitfield
Fred Lindop, when our game was hardly on the telly,
to the incompetant
Ashley Clown
Colin Morris
The Chuckle Brothers, sorry Connolly twins, when we've had the exposure of Sky,
to the theatricals of
John Holdsworth
Steve Ganson. Ganson's even managed to re-invent himself. He's gone from the dithering idiot, who wouldn't make a simple/obvious decision, without the aid of the VR, to a dogmatic, pig-headed oaf, who'll give the dodgiest try ever, without the VR's assistance, when that's precisely the reason the VRs were brought into existance. He'll then puff his chest out, and strut to where the conversion's going to be taken, and then find out, he's invariably "dropped a clanger".
I really don't get the "love-in" some on here, have with Ganson. He makes just as many "fluff-ups" as the rest of them, do.
We've even had to put up with the most ridiculous of them all, in Ronnie Laughton. Seriously, Ronnie ####### Laughton.
True enough, the Aussies have had these, too (Hollywood Bill, anyone), so, all that glitters, ain't gold.

Allibert is so inconsistent, it's untrue
Thaler and Child shouldn't be seen anywhere near a rugby pitch. Even U11's games. Why should kids suffer their uselessness.

There are people who say, "refs have it tough, go and do a better job, yourself". That's beside the point. They've piut themselves forward, so do the job PROPERLY, or not at all.

We've had the call to adapt the Aussie system of two refs on the pitch at once, over here. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO. Two idiots, refereeing the game, to two different ways. Let's get all the refs, refereeing to a decent standard, before we even contemplate that system. I'm expecting hell to freeze over, first, though.

The biggest joke of all, though, is Cummings himself. A crap ref himself, is now in charge of a shambolic group. Madness.

The selling/promotion of the game is more important than refs at the moment too. I do agree.