Rugby League Laughable

JC said :

watto23 said :

The video ref is interesting. I like how the refs have to make a call on the field and need evidence to overturn it. But if that try had of been awarded based on the video replay, I doubt they’d have overturned it either, so 50-50 calls are still at the whim of the onfield referee who in this case wasn’t in a good position, it was suggested to check it, but he had ruled no try based on being 20 metres away!

If that is the Thurston ‘forward’ pass no try you are talking about then think you will find the the call came from the touch judge who was in line with the play. Still wrong decision IMO.

Might have come from the touch judge. I think it was line ball. I can understand why the video ref didn’t overrule the onfield decision, but the video ref probably should know which on field ref/touch judge thinks what. If a ref calls knock on from a bad position, but the touchy in a better position thinks it was ok and the video ref thinks its ok, then that should overule the referee who was in a bad decision. Problem is, I doubt these people are great trouble shooters in anything and I often think the average league official is marginally smarter than the average player 🙂 I say this as a League fan.

Another one an AFL friend of mine asked was how do i know who is who from a distance, when they can wear a different number jersey each week. I said they tried it but, apparently it was more important to know the position of a player than the actual player having their own number. Even though they have the backs pack into the scrum, forwards play on the wing and positions mean very little these days. Surely the increased revenue of kids getting their favourite players number on the jersey is the plus here?

And the double movement rule. Only applies when scoring a try, but not when coming out of in goal. Get rid of it completely IMO. one less thing to worry about.

watto23 said :

The video ref is interesting. I like how the refs have to make a call on the field and need evidence to overturn it. But if that try had of been awarded based on the video replay, I doubt they’d have overturned it either, so 50-50 calls are still at the whim of the onfield referee who in this case wasn’t in a good position, it was suggested to check it, but he had ruled no try based on being 20 metres away!

If that is the Thurston ‘forward’ pass no try you are talking about then think you will find the the call came from the touch judge who was in line with the play. Still wrong decision IMO.

JC said :

Oh and forgot the sinbins. One guy can deliberately target another player with what on replay appears to be clear intent to hurt the player, and just gets on report, but the player retaliates with a hook and gets the bin, because there is no choice? WTF? Of course that was evened up by another soft sinbin later in the game, but still just wrong.

I’m a fan of how the ice hockey penelises players and I think it would work in League. 5 minute sin bins and if a try is scored the player can come back on the field. Refs can use it more often that way and players will stop doing what they do to ruin the game….. hopefully. But there is reluctance to sinbin for 10 minutes or even send off.

The video ref is interesting. I like how the refs have to make a call on the field and need evidence to overturn it. But if that try had of been awarded based on the video replay, I doubt they’d have overturned it either, so 50-50 calls are still at the whim of the onfield referee who in this case wasn’t in a good position, it was suggested to check it, but he had ruled no try based on being 20 metres away!

I’m sure there is no conspiracy, but RL is far too insular for its own good. AFL has had to get Melbournians to reluctantly accept other teams play AFL outside Melbourne. the NRL is driven by Sydney ratings, which means the game will never grow any bigger, will always be second rate to AFL, probably soccer too. Thats the issue with State of Origin. Its a great event, good football, but well its only two states in the whole world who can play in it. The focus should be on test matches and not State of Origin. Understand why its not, but its a double edge sword. Its the pinnacle of the sport, but also a noose around the sport from growing.

Oh and forgot the sinbins. One guy can deliberately target another player with what on replay appears to be clear intent to hurt the player, and just gets on report, but the player retaliates with a hook and gets the bin, because there is no choice? WTF? Of course that was evened up by another soft sinbin later in the game, but still just wrong.

The Bulldogs Manly game was no better. I am still very puzzled about the rule for a ball hitting a ref. I mean to say if it is 5th tackle and the ball hits the ref why is it a scum and 6 again? Surely the best thing would be to take the ball back to where the last play started and play the ball again with no reset of tackle count. That decision also gave the Bulldogs field position.

And in the Cowboys game one Cowboy got penalised for raking, which replays show wasn’t the case, yet no recourse. This lead to a penalty field position and points. But stay down after a hit and you get a review, even if the ref didn’t see anything.

The way that players use the rules these days to milk penalties, for example staying down after a hit for a video ref review, it wouldn’t surprise me if we see in the future players deliberately targeting refs and kicking balls into them to get a scum, with field position and 6 again.

This coming from a Newtown fan, who, like most profusely dislikes the Silver Tails and not a big fan of Thurston and the Cowboys.

Antagonist said :

One would have thought that with the introduction of the video ref that decisions would be easier to make. It looks to me like it has only made things worse! There is no longer any skill to refereeing. Everything close ends up going upstairs these days.

I stopped watching NRL many years ago for two reasons. First was the Superleague mess. Second was when they cut Souths from the competition. Strictly Rugby Union in this household …

I couldn’t agree more. Poor Jonathon Thurston was flattened by late tackles everytime he kicked on the 5th tackle and despite two referees being on the field nothing was seen.
SBW clearly milked a penalty which gave the Roosters field position for the winning field goal. This should have gone upstairs. The rulr book was thrown out the door re the try that Thurston should have been awarded.
One cannot help believe the NRL is all about money. The thought of a grand final without two Sydney teams contesting is not something you can’t put in the bank.
Scrums are a pathetic joke.
Rugby Union has been ruined by money also in my opinion and the scrums / penalties just turn me off.
Don’t get me going about lifting in lineouts.

One would have thought that with the introduction of the video ref that decisions would be easier to make. It looks to me like it has only made things worse! There is no longer any skill to refereeing. Everything close ends up going upstairs these days.

I stopped watching NRL many years ago for two reasons. First was the Superleague mess. Second was when they cut Souths from the competition. Strictly Rugby Union in this household …