NRL officiating

[Kurriboy]

So the grand final is done, 11 penalties for the game which is about average for an NRL game.

Generally, SOO and grand finals, and qualifying finals etc I would think it is considered a better game of RL if the ref puts the whistle away and lets them play.

We had a coach after a prelim recently commenting on the number of penalties and is that what we want?

So I guess what do we actually want from the refs and what sort of game do we want to see?

Free flowing game with less stop start, or refs policing the rules and forcing the sides to a standard?

Last night you had Walsh with direct contact to the head in the first half no sin bin, and in the second half late when the game was all but done, Melbourne player sin binned for a similar contact. Was this the token sin binning at the end of a game against the side at that point that was meant to lose?

People enjoy the free flowing games where the ref puts the whistle away, but then every game the refs are heavily scrutinised for their decisions to give or not to give a penalty.

What do we actually want, and should NRL start officiating games through the year with a view to more free flowing games and less penalties?

 

[Kickitoverhere]

couldn’t believe Walsh didn’t get sent for the shoulder charge to the head. 20min later his try saving tackle was also a blatant shoulder charge. If you’re not going to call them that’s fine but how can you send the Melbourne guy off at the end for the same tackle?

 

[slotmachine]

When you say "free flowing games" what you actually mean is glacially slow ruck with rampant cheating that leads to a close low scoring affair. Some fans really seem to want that but it's not for me. A side should be rewarded for winning contact with a fast PTB, which then leads to some attractive attacking football.

While it was very weird that Atkins got the GF because he left his whistle at home and refused to stop the Panthers cheating in the ruck, then decided to do a complete 180 in GF, it definitely led to a better spectacle. Penalty and six again in Broncs first set gave a huge neon sign to the Storm than they weren't going to be able to take the ****.

 

[jamesgould]

couldn’t believe Walsh didn’t get sent for the shoulder charge to the head. 20min later his try saving tackle was also a blatant shoulder charge. If you’re not going to call them that’s fine but how can you send the Melbourne guy off at the end for the same tackle?

He said player fell into it which was true. At the end of the day when you slow everything down to one frame per second, there’s going to be a lot of very grey areas. Broncos and Storm both got away with a shoulder charge that would have been binned during the regular season, imo. Don’t think the Storm can complain about the one that did get marched.

 

[HarVeeGee13]

When you say "free flowing games" what you actually mean is glacially slow ruck with rampant cheating that leads to a close low scoring affair. Some fans really seem to want that but it's not for me. A side should be rewarded for winning contact with a fast PTB, which then leads to some attractive attacking football.

While it was very weird that Atkins got the GF because he left his whistle at home and refused to stop the Panthers cheating in the ruck, then decided to do a complete 180 in GF, it definitely led to a better spectacle. Penalty and six again in Broncs first set gave a huge neon sign to the Storm than they weren't going to be able to take the ****.

slots is the biggest ball knower on here

As much as certain key decisions attract all the smoke (still feels to me like what is and isn’t an obstruction is dictated by a monkey bashing a pair of cymbals inside the video referees head rather than any consistent logic), the most frustrated I’ve gotten with the officiating is when the Knights are winning first up contact, the other team is taking the **** holding them down, and the referee does nothing.

Partially because we had a head coach who I don’t think has coached them under any sort of understanding that this might happen sometimes and they need to find a way to deal with it lol. But also the main thing we had going for us before D Saf left was how good some of our players are at pushing through tackles and hitting their front and whether or not there’s any reward for that can feel very arbitrary.

 

[Defence wins games]

So the grand final is done, 11 penalties for the game which is about average for an NRL game.

Generally, SOO and grand finals, and qualifying finals etc I would think it is considered a better game of RL if the ref puts the whistle away and lets them play.

We had a coach after a prelim recently commenting on the number of penalties and is that what we want?

So I guess what do we actually want from the refs and what sort of game do we want to see?

Free flowing game with less stop start, or refs policing the rules and forcing the sides to a standard?

Last night you had Walsh with direct contact to the head in the first half no sin bin, and in the second half late when the game was all but done, Melbourne player sin binned for a similar contact. Was this the token sin binning at the end of a game against the side at that point that was meant to lose?

People enjoy the free flowing games where the ref puts the whistle away, but then every game the refs are heavily scrutinised for their decisions to give or not to give a penalty.

What do we actually want, and should NRL start officiating games through the year with a view to more free flowing games and less penalties?

And either way, who would be a referee?
When the referee officials were called to the stage to get their medals last night, they were greeted with a loud chorus of boos from the mob in the stands. It took the losing captain Harry Grant to acknowledge the referee officials in a classy response to balance things out.
The conundrum of “letting the game flow” and “referee to the rules” strikes at the very integrity of our game. Rugby League then becomes a “Clayton’s game” with the officials becoming the sacrificial lamb, and this situation has only worsened since the addition of betting on the “game”.
We have no game without referees officiating to the rules or do we just let the players play the game with no rules because it flows and looks better?
At the moment it’s like being a little bit pregnant.

 

[Kurriboy]

And either way, who would be a referee?
When the referee officials were called to the stage to get their medals last night, they were greeted with a loud chorus of boos from the mob in the stands. It took the losing captain Harry Grant to acknowledge the referee officials in a classy response to balance things out.
The conundrum of “letting the game flow” and “referee to the rules” strikes at the very integrity of our game. Rugby League then becomes a “Clayton’s game” with the officials becoming the sacrificial lamb, and this situation has only worsened since the addition of betting on the “game”.
We have no game without referees officiating to the rules or do we just let the players play the game with no rules because it flows and looks better?
At the moment it’s like being a little bit pregnant.

Thats it eh, after Origins when the refs put the whistle away you always hear how good it was. Or after a penalty ridden affair coaches complain that the refs are not letting the players decide outcomes.

Yet, it the regular season was reffed that way, you can easily see situations where the refs are getting ripped by coaches, media and fans even more then now, for this non call and that non call.

The very reason 6 agains were brought in was to speed up the game and have more "ball in play" time. So reducing the penalties and letting the game flow seems the next logical step they take.

This does change the fabric of the game as the more they speed it up, the less room there is for the big props of the past like Nelson and Papalii etc. Those players will be replaced by athletes that all look pretty much the same.

Personally I would like to see penalties reduced, but not just "put the whistle away". More work with teams from the outset, give running warnings, talk to the captain, then penalise and if they keep going penalise again, If they keep going, sin bin the captain for not bringing their team in to line.

At the moment, teams know the ref isn't going to go with a 30 penalty game, so they know they can push the boundaries constantly and overall come out in front. The penalites/6 agains you cop you defend, then go right back to offending.

Another aspect of the ruck is the way Refs call held near immediately and start yelling for players to get off. Often the player was hit the tackler fell off and the player has no-one touching them when the ref yells held trying to make the game as fast as possible.

 

[jamesgould]

Another aspect of the ruck is the way Refs call held near immediately and start yelling for players to get off. Often the player was hit the tackler fell off and the player has no-one touching them when the ref yells held trying to make the game as fast as possible.

That’s a big part of what led to the whole wrestling epidemic hey … you used to be given time as the tackler to get off the player, moving over the top of them if needed, and get to marker. Then the refs in the superleague era decided they wanted things faster and faster, they started to call hel immediately. So there needed to be another way to slow things down for the tackler, it became all about keeping the attacker on their feet, finding other ways to slow them down.

Now I don’t think there’s a way to let things slow down without going back to wrestling, that genie is out the box. As slots says, now when refs don’t blow penalties, the game is glacial.

 

[Newygirl]

The funniest thing is the likes of Andrew Johns arguing for the refs to put the whistle away while at the same time arguing for more fatigue in the game to bring in the little guys