Quote: FearTheVee "First thing I’d say is that EM was explicitly not bashing Hicks. He said as much. He was bashing the RFL’s decision to appoint Hicks in the circumstances.
In my humble opinion, EM shouldn’t have been so public in his complaints. That’s aside from the fact I think that if he did want to go public, then the programme notes were very poorly thought through and worded.
Clearly there is a point in there - that any sensible governing body would not have appointed the referee under these circumstances (can you imagine this situation occurring for an FA Cup final between two big clubs? No chance) - but I don’t appreciate the way we have gone about it.
It is all very unbecoming and not how I would want or expect our club to behave. Make your position known through the appropriate channels, pull yourself together and get on with shaping your own season rather than shifting blame.
That said - I think the standard of refereeing is pretty bad and the “refs call” aspect of the video ref breeds bad video ref decisions, although I can understand the rationale for it and that it has some merit.'"
I understand that he felt he had grievances but, as you say, he went about this all wrong. His wording too was ill advised.
What really concerns me, though, is that these comments appeared in print just 5 working days after the events took place. I wouldn't claim to know the printing schedule for Saints programmes but even a generous estimate would suggest they would need a day to print meaning the copy would probably need to be in, say, by the Wednesday? That means he must have been writing this piece on or around the Tuesday.
Not only does this show poor restraint from your chairman but it also pretty much negates the hypothesis that some are putting forward that it was born of frustration as result of the RFL's inaction. He surely couldn't have expected any sort of response, let alone resolution, in just 2 days, could he?
I can't think that there's anyone in Rugby league who is satisfied with the current standard of refereeing. Maybe the game is simply too quick for just one ref. However the solution is not to publicly castigate officials in public, whatever the grievance.