Quote: Standee "Out of interest, do you, or anyone else, remember a time when these boards weren't full of people bemoaning the quality of refereeing and the lack of accountability and consistency, it's as old as the hills.'"
I've been moaning about refs since the seventies, and writing to various Rugby mags about it since the eighties. I have come to the conclusion that because we tinker with various rules to make the game a better spectacle we end up getting inconsistency due to intreperating the rules; and its the inconsistency that the average fan gets peed off with. I know all fans rant, usually when their beloved team gets beat, but when everyone has calmed down and talks about rugby league over a pint they all usually moan about inconsistency in refereeing. Take the Saturday televised match where on two ocassions a Bradford player was tackled in the air and they didn't get a penalty. The week before against Wigan, the Bulls and the Warriors both had tries given from what looked more of a forward pass than the one Tickle gave Craig Hall against Harlequins but was disallowed.
I think the refs job is a difficult one and maybe we need an incentive to bring more into the game? Someone said the pool is too small, I would agree with that point. Players have periods where form deserts them and they get dropped. refs are human (I think
) and also suffer likewise - they don't get dropped because there's no one of a sufficient standard to replace them, although I thought Childs had a good game on Friday and I've never really noticed him before.
