Regrettably, it is possible to be both.

I'm with you on this one!!Alibert , best ref in the league










Best laugh I've had since someone told me Sam Allardyce will get West Ham promoted back to the Premier League as champions!

That's exactly right. He wasn't of a standard suited to the two sets of players - and one of those sets was us!

I think essentially there are two types of referee at the moment. Those who are essentially honest but incompetant: Alibert and Hicks and Child. (Actually scrub that, Child is incredibly biased against certain clubs!), and those that like to be the ones dictating the game - not the result just the pace and structure: Ganson, Thaler, Silverwood and Bentham.

Both types have a capacity to ruin a spectacle - the former through poor decision making and the latter by obsessing about certain elements of the game that are not as important as others. How often do you see the likes of Ganson give a series of penalties for one thing and the next week give a series of penalties for a different thing. If you get him on a good day then he may want to let the game flow and you get a good spectacle but I guess the long drive down south must do nothing for his mood because he never seems to help our games flow. Not that we ever seem to get any of the so-called better refs at our games any more.

We all know it's a tough job - too much for just one person in the middle really so if they get tough calls wrong you have to accept that. But it's the real lame-brain obvious stuff that really gets me. For example THAT forward pass against Hull KR, and in the case of Saturday, THAT obstruction on Purdham. Also he can't have seen the ball go forward as Gale was putting the ball down so you cannot therefore give a knock on, it's play on and Mitchell scores. Purdham's put down was not tidy but he can't rule he dropped it if he sees no separation. And certainly if you do need to consult with the other officials maybe take the opinion of the guy 3 yards away over that of the guy 60 yards away!



Obvious refereeing is obvious to coin a phrase.

He made the jesture to put a desicion up to the video ref on Saturday until he realised there wasn't one and then ran over to the touch judge to his red face.

I'm going to put my neck on the line and say the gap between the Super League and the NRL is bigger for the referees than it is for the players. Why is Stuart Cummings not called into account by the RFL and made to show what he is doing about it on Boots n' All and the Super League Show, his response would be to show the development that the RFL is doing at grass-roots level, amateur level, through to the full-time officials and what the authorities are doing to make sure the refereeing team do not allow forward passes and can recognise a forward pass. I have seen as many forward passes in five or so games at the Stoop this year as I have seen in the previous five years there.

Another perspective, George Rileys Blog. www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/georgeriley/ ... eague.html

Another perspective, George Rileys Blog. www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/georgeriley/ ... eague.html

That's awful.

I know its not exactly his fault, more of the time-keepers, but as I said above, they played 10mins extra in the first half for the Cru-Wire game at the Racecourse. Even though we have a time-keeper in Rugby League, the referee should still keep looking at his watch. For that to happen at this level is a disgrace (just our luck for Wire to score 3 tries in that period too).

*Incase you think I may have got this wrong, Wire scored 3 tries in the 40th minute, that isn't possible.

I don't think Robert Hicks is the worst official (Child has to be !), but for big error at the level, he is the worst.

The annoying thing about one of the decisions was that he spoke to the in goal who gave it & then he ran to the touch judge furthest away who was stood by the flag 50 metres away on the try line who then didn't give it. A TJ not giving it is OK but when they are stood by the flag that means all is OK but did not see the grounding-If he was 5 metres up the touch line then he has seen an offence/problem