Pretty much nothing. There are a lack of referees already, meaning mediocre and downright awful performances cannot be subject to bans/downgrading, because there'd not be enough to cover the next round of fixtures.

This "swinging arm" quote does make me smile. How is a player supposed to affect a tackle without swinging his arm?


As for the penalty it was not given until the pushing match when they stand up.


If a prop has a free shot of one of the oppositions creative players he is in my opinion letting his team down if he doesn't take it. Just because it is one of our players on the receiving end of it doesn't suddenly make me think it is wrong.

As for the rest of your rant I actually don't mind sometimes conceding a penalty or 2, it goes with the style we have chosen to play. Consistently giving away penalties when we have the ball flopping on tackled players and penalties on the 4th or 5th tackle though are ridiculous, especially when they are unforced. Think on 2 occasions against Saints we gave away penalties off dominant tackles. Teams running hard fighting for a quick play the ball winning penalties is credit to them, giving away unforced penalties through being lazy or stupid is another matter though.

I await further ranting.....

I liked the idea of the initial ref's call prior to sending the try or no try to the video ref, but as you say it isn't working. If it is a tight call they take the easy way out and go with the ref.

From when I have seen it in Union the ref doesn't make a call and simply asks, for any reason not to award the try. It is then decided on from that point.

union has two calls 1 any reason i cannot award the try 1 Try yes or no, subtly different, also the onfield ref views the footage with the VR and can over rule

For me did swing his arm and was a penalty.

Sam Burgess did that a year or 2 ago and got penalised for it but the hit was more ferocious it was still deemed illegal due to the movement of the arm.

You surely know the difference between someone swinging his arm to actually make a tackle and someone swinging it with a clenched fist into the back of a player lying prone on the floor. Did Ben Westwood's swinging arm on Blake Green make you giggle as well?

And while it is true that the penalty was only given after the scuffle, Hicks was clearly told because he indicated the penalty was for the swinging arm.

The standard of refereeing is getting poorer because the pool of referees the RFL have to choose from is getting smaller.

The reason it's getting smaller is because of the constant abuse referees receive from officials and parents in the amateur game , at both youth and open age .

I reckon that a lot of the people moaning about the refs in Super League are probably the same people hurling abuse at young referees on a Sunday morning. Many of these refs are children under 18 years of age. It's disgusting some of the stuff that goes on, that's why the numbers are dwindling.

Well I can tell you that your assumption is wrong in my case and I strongly resent it.

I maintain the difference was the initial contact was with the fist onto Tomkins' shoulder. I agree that pretty much every forward in the game would take the opportunity, had he dropped on him forcefully then that's fine but he didn't.
D

I liked it when it was sent up for the VR to make a decision, only if the VR was unable to make a decision then it was sent back down as refs call. I've lost count of the number of times this season I've seen a try wrongly given or denied due to the insufficient evidence rubbish we have now.

I liked it when it was sent up for the VR to make a decision, only if the VR was unable to make a decision then it was sent back down as refs call. I've lost count of the number of times this season I've seen a try wrongly given or denied due to the insufficient evidence rubbish we have now.

Don't be so touchy , I didn't say everybody

Actually Jon, I don't need to rant. You done a first class job of proving my point for me with this post. "How's a player supposed to affect (sic) a tackle without swinging his arm" and "If a prop has a free shot at one of the opposition's creative players he is, in my opinion, letting his team down if he doesn't take it" are comedy gold! Especially given your "Without a doubt" thread regarding discipline. Make your mind up mate!

As I said: joke poster.

Not throw a punch into a tackle?

Shithouse tactics.