Great spot, you should be a touch judge! I missed that live. Agreed.

I don't think we stand a chance next week unless Kendall is the ref

I certainly wouldn't be approaching it with words like "boys" or "lads". If I was speaking to a player then a first name would certainly be more professional and I'd call them players too "Remi, there's been a few high tackles during the game. Speak to your players". You also don't need him talking down to players with phrases like "semi final, or no semi final" I'm pretty sure the players know what's at stake.

Genuinely (& I know where this will go) I don't like any refs. It's mostly because of how protected they are by the RFL and fans - if anyone raises an objection to a ref decision then you're instantly shot down on it.

Fair enough. I'd suggest your standards are unrealistic if you don't like any of them though. Are you sure they are so protected? The three most experienced refs are out in the cold at the moment, two of which have quite a few finals between them.

I just hope the Saints fans can find some enthusiasm for it. In the build up to tonight the general feeling on Red Vee seemed to be that it’ll be a meaningless title win anyway given all the issues the games faced.

I wonder why

Oh I know I have.

Depends what we are classing as being protected i guess. Them being "out in the cold" i.e dropped isn't protection imo, it's a necessity if they do a bad job. That happens in all walks of life.

When I talk about protection, then I mean the public backing they get from the RFL - when was the last time they ever came out and admitted a ref had a stinker? I'm not looking for him to be hung out to dry btw. Players get it all the time from coaches, especially honest ones like Wane. How many times have you heard Wane say something like "he knows what he's done wrong & what we expect, but he'll learn from it" etc? Why do the mistakes the refs make, get brushed under the carpet almost?

I look back to the 19 CC final and the disgraceful performance of the ref that day. McManus was bang on in his assessment a week later, but rather than acknowledge he had a legitimate point he was attacked for telling the truth.

Excuses in extra early I guess but realistically they’ll be favourites next week and those same people will wet themselves if they win. I’m sure should they will they’ll be gracious in victory though

Then that ref, who the RFL have bagged, has to take charge of 34 players, who have just read that even his own employer think he's bad. How would that go for him? I don't recall a disgraceful performance in the 19 CC Final. I recall one bad costly decision not to send a decision to the video ref.

That was for in case they lost. Angry Dave was the most vocal on that. Watch their attitude change now they're in the final and then again depending on whether they win or lose. Totally pathetic bunch of basket cases.

On the "all ref's referee Wigan differently" theme that they like to peddle, tonight alone they got Maloney sinbinned for a high tackle that wasn't dissimilar to the Walmsley one that happened literally minutes before, a try from a forward pass (Makinson), a second from another forward pass (Lomax), one from the most blatant shepard you'll ever see (unless the ball was landing on the corner flag!), a second pitifully soft sinbin leaving Catalan down to 12 men twice in a semi final and numerous offsides (if you believe Wigan's line speed is due to offsides as they apparently do).

I'm not complaining about any of that you understand. Saints were worthy winners. It'll just be interesting to see if they register how they're "reffed differently" too. Somehow I doubt it.

So they should lie and protect him instead? Imagine if you used that principle for anyone in power. A judge gets a case wrong and it's reversed by a higher court - that first judge (if he doesn't lose his job) still has to work on further trials.

It's the very definition of a whitewash isn't it?

They deal with it in-house and select based on performance. It's pretty much the same as clubs do. Coaches generally don't single out players to the media but obviously they will deal with poor performance in-house and drop them as necessary. The referee already has a big target on his back without getting shots fired from his own bosses.

Given that LMS cognitive baseline is lower than a goldfish the bar for his test will be set low to zero

we must have different rules to the NRL, LMS was knocked out, if it is this back no matter what the HIA says you must stay off or something like that. I think it was pretty reckless from saints