well spotted.
we should be ahead on the penalty count by 2 to 1......but somehow I doubt it.

lemme get this straight. we had the french ref for our game against the french team and now the wakefield ref for our game against wakefield

Ganson....off down the bookies now

I can't go with all this ref-bashing I'm afraid.....though I get as one-eyed as the best of 'em. If we're good enough, we'll win - if we're not, we'll lose. We can all think of examples where we think the decision was the wrong 'un but it does even out and in all probability the punter is wrong about the call anyway. As often as not in these cases the ref is right - especially when viewed on replay on the ol' boob tube later on that night.....

None of this takes away from the times when they do get it wrong but that's just the luck of the draw, human error - call it what you will - nowt to do with bias!

Good to see that the ludicrous, unscientific `it all evens our theory` is alive and well

2007 - Top of the Fair Play League
2009 - Currently Top of the Fair Play League

2007 - Fewest penalties received
2008 - Fewest penalties received
2009 - So far, Fewest penalties received

So what that means is each time a team plays the Harlequins they play the most disciplined 80 minutes of rugby they have played all season.

Sure.

No one who follows this club will be convinced very easily that it does all get evened out.

Hang on. is this not Ben ' I am a Wakey lad' Thaler?

We have our excuses already!

Blimey, guv when are we gonna get a Cockney ref?

Anyone up for singing in the rain?

Can't make it this Sunday cos I'm working.
Will try to listen on the net, so I hope to hear all the home fan's singing:

"We love Ben Thaler,
Cos he is just a lad,
We love Ben Thaler,
Cos he ain't got no dad,
We love Ben Thaler,
Harleqins, through & through."

Maybe it does mean that - by your own admission above, and by the fairplay measure, they are playing against the fairest in t' land....maybe it rubs off?

It may also mean that, because no Quins/Broncos team I have watched in the last 12 years has ever dominated rucks and 'contacts' sufficiently to either rattle opponents or to force the error, we are unable to force teams to concede penalties. Too good for our own, er, good? I have made it a point of measuring the distance between the first point of contact ie where the tackle first commences and the last point of contact ie where the tackle concludes - the distance is either a positive or a negative one.

Invariably we dont come out of it too good, either defensively or offensively, and more often than not the opposition will make yards in the contact and we do not - this allows one team to dominate and win the collision, forcing or conceding penalties as a result. It is often the case even when we've won games.........it tells me we win games because of factors other than winning the collision but I dont think we have enough mongrel or c**t to stop, slow and bully teams around. I think the fairplay stats bear this out - we're too 'nice' so don't give away penalties and we're not 'mean' enough to force opponents to concede penalties. Just a theory of mine and certainly not fact, but worth considering I think....


That Quins get some hard calls is not in dispute, but it does go both ways by and large and even when it doesn't it's not down to bias or birthplace or domicile. Who knows - maybe teams feel the 'bonding' effect having been on the coach with each other longer than normal for this fixture, compared to others.....?

I would be more than happy to accept that a very large reason for this is lack of vociferous home support sub-consciously affecting the refereees but, once again, that's not bias or corrupt officials or referees favouring home town teams or anything like that. Human nature maybe....?

Thought Thaler was fine today. You can always find a few things to disagree about with the ref but I thought he did a good job. Not sure that Danny Brough would agree though.

Certainly did from where I was sat!