Saturday, May 06, 2006

ARL vs Kiwi's League Test

Okay - I need to vent my spleen on this one - that was the worst display of Rugby League officiating I have seen. Ever.
Of course I should accede out that the Kiwi's were thoroughly outplayed - but only after the bad decisions had taken their toll.

Number 1 on my list - and really the main prompt for the post - Frank Pritchards "high" tackle on Karmichael Hunt:
Realistically what was FP supposed to do - step out of his way? FP goes for shoulder tackle and KH lowers his head and runs into his shoulder. If this is upheld as a genuinely high tackle then it says that an attacker can run his own head into a defender and claim a penalty as a result.
Turnaround from this madness: Nigel Vagana called back from scoring an under the posts try, Kangaroos penalty from which they score, and a free interchange for the kangas.

Number 2 - the from the ground pass leading to a try:
Okay - I accept that within the letter of the law that pass was legal - but then the officials shouldn't have penalised Cayless at the far end of the field for a "flop" - same situation player had not touched the ground with the ball carrying arm but would normally be considered "tackled". And that is what it is about - if they are going to allow the passing from the ground they need to accept that the defending team has the right to continue a tackle until the guy is either flat on the ground or tackle is called. Okay - this one is more a bitch than genuinely bad reffing.

Number 3 - bundle together (because I don't want to spend all day on this post) "that" missing offside call (how could you miss that?), how were no forward passes called (maybe the officials forgot about that rule?), and after admirably setting the standard of clearing the ruck (costing the Kiwi's 2 penalties - no issue with that) spectacularly failing to enforce that standard.

Now please note - I'm actually not blaming the ref on this one - most of the worst calls (and absent calls) were touch judge calls. And this is an area of League that does not get enought focus - sure we roast the ref's for their high profile mistakes but it is the cold reality that the touchies are the bane of the games progression. They are not fit enough, do not know the rules well enough and are generally incompetent.

I would really welcome a move to a 4 touch judge system both in the NRL and for international tests - one for each half of each sideline and think that the quality of the officiating would improve drastically as a result.

Hopefully next time these two sides meet it can be a 13 on 13 match.

2 comments:

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