Match 14: Batley (Home) Championship
fevnut's musings
Referees (Again!)
On far too many occasions this year
we have left matches frustrated by the standard of refereeing. So, instead of
just moaning about it, we thought we should consider what needs to be done. The
fact is that if the current situation continues we can see lots of fans being
turned off the sport and that will to be to the huge detriment of everyone
involved.
One bad performance you can put down
to one whistle-blower having a bad day. It happens, and it always will. But we
are not talking about one individual ref having a bad day. It seems to be
rapidly becoming endemic. So, we have to ask, what is going on in the referees
department at the RFL? What support are referees getting? What training is
available to them? What help are they getting by way of video review to help
them improve? Is the Match Officials department fit for purpose?
There is one area of ‘foul play’ that
is creeping in more and more and is making the job of the referee much more
difficult. And this is down to the players and, particularly, the coaches. We
find the cheating that goes on in soccer to be sickening. But unfortunately it
is creeping in more and more to Rugby League. In soccer it is nowadays referred
to as ‘simulation’. A player basically trying to con the referee into awarding
a free kick or penalty, and also attempting to persuade the official to use a
card against an opponent. It used to be that such things were a real rarity in
rugby league but unfortunately that is no longer the case. Over and over again
you see tackled players holding on to their opponent in the hope of winning a
penalty for holding down. Regularly, a tackled player will get up and move
forward making it look as if he is being interfered with by the marker. And we
are now even getting player’s going down holding their head to make it look as
if they have received a high tackle when later study of the video reveals that
no such thing occurred. Then, near the end of games, players on the winning
side are feigning injury to attempt to use up as much time as possible.
We want to say that that it is ‘not
Rugby League’ but sadly this type of behaviour is increasing every year.
So, what is to be done to rectify
matters before our sport is ruined? Firstly, we believe that whoever is
appointed as the next Chief Executive of the RFL should be as concerned with
making the Match Officials department fit for purpose as he/she should be with
future league structures. Secondly, we think it would be really good for the game
if referees sin-binned any player who they see to be guilty of ‘simulation’.
And for repeat offences they should use the red card. That would make both
players and coaches stop to think if these abhorrent actions are in their own
interest. I would rather see a spate of yellow cards than allow the current
situation to continue. And let’s also have the referees marching teams ten
metres down the pitch for any dissent. We are utterly fed up with how often
players dispute a referees decision now. Oh for the days of Billy Thompson and
Eric Clay, they wouldn’t have tolerated all this nonsense!
Challenge Cup Round 6
Several times this year we have seen journalists
writing that the gap between the bottom of the Super League and the top of the
Championship is closing and that this year’s Qualifiers will be much more
perilous for the Super League teams. The 6th round of the Challenge Cup gives
us a real opportunity to see whether indeed the top Championship clubs are
capable of being competitive with Super League sides.
I can’t wait for the match between
Fev and Hull FC. In the last two years we have failed to be truly competitive
in the Qualifiers and this is our first chance to see if the ‘new’ John Duffy
team can rectify that. To beat them will be incredibly difficult. As current
holders of the Challenge Cup you can’t see Hull taking any tie other than
completely seriously. But we will be really happy if this Fev team stand up to
them in a very different manner to the way we performed against Leeds,
Huddersfield and Salford in 2016 and Widnes and Warrington in 2017.
There are other ties which will test
out the theory of top Championship sides being ready to compete with the Super
League. We will be watching the following ties, in particular, with keen
interest:
Toronto Wolfpack v Warrington
Wolves
Leigh Centurions v
Salford Red Devils
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