In the NRL the refs that have a poor a game as that would immediately be hammered by the press and Harrigan(their eqiv of Cummings) would also drop them and the line to a lower tier game for a week or two. Cummings doesn't seem to have an overseer like Harrigan who was lucky to keep his job after the Origin 1 VR cockup. Perhaps Sod Hall should invite David Gallop to run the ship now he's free, he would certainly bring some much needed proffessionalism to the place!
They all seemed to be technical penalities around the PTB apart from some offsides (one from a forward pass and that one from the kick off). There may have been one high shot too but not sure. Wakey's were similar apart from they had a couple of high shots.
The ruck was a bit of a mess and the teams weren't very far apart so it was bound to happen.
I think calling it the "worst ever" is a tad over the top. He was a bit, well more than a bit, inconsistent and I guess he'll not be pleased with his performance when it is reviewed. I assume they are reviewed?
The pen for the offside at the KO was correct, though it wasn't the only instance during the game; after seeing one you tend to keep your eye out for more - and there were more, unbelievably from us too, since we'd already conceded one you would have thought we'd have been more careful....
The thing which really got me though, was that apparently, there was not one forward pass in the entire game..... I know crowds tend to be a bit, shall we say one sided, in 'seeing' forwards but for Mr Hicks to not see one was quite a remarkable achievement. We were responsible for a bad one a couple of tackles before the first try, pass to Ainey iirc, still I guess I have to credit him with being consistent in that department as Wakey got a few in too.
part that annoyed me was when kicked the last penalty and he didnt make the wakey players retreat 10m. none of their players went back 10m and one was stood 5-6m immediately in front of gale when he took the kick. Plus they all started to move forward before gale had taken the kick. Always understood that opposing players were supposed to stay still while a kick was being taken but Im not sure whether thats actually a rule or not.
I think calling it the "worst ever" is a tad over the top.
No, they don't come much worse. he ruined the game with his whistle. Not much more he could have done than that.
Bulliac wrote:
The pen for the offside at the KO was correct,
No, it wasn't. If a player or players had strayed offside a fraction early, then it's what has been happening in every game of league, for years, at all levels, and as i said, unless players are visibly taking the proverbial, or else seeking to gain a big advantage such as at a short kick-off, then refs rightly let it go.
Do you want another example? Goal line defence. The further you go from post to wing, the further offside players stand waiting for the PTB. That's in every game. Is it offside? Well, technically, yes, of course. Should it always be blown? Of course not. The players are near enough, as long as they are making an effort, and the refs let it go. (We did have a spell, remember, a few years back, when the supremo declared it HAD to be "both feet behind the line". That was such a joke, and a shambles, that it was quietly allowed to die a welcome death.
Here, it was the second half kickoff, FFS, it was not a short kick off and hardly any advantage at all was even likely to be had. If the RFL decreed, like the goal line debacle, that as from this week, any player stepping over the line at kickoff will be penalised. Then everybody knows. Instead, the offence is ignored hundreds of times a season for years, then this bozo decides to ping one at random. That's my beef.
What made it far worse was his inability to see other, often, blatant, offides. Such as Wakey being between 2-3 metres offisde at two 20 metre restarts in the second half. Every person in the ground could see it, except Hicks.
Bulliac wrote:
The thing which really got me though, was that apparently, there was not one forward pass in the entire game..... I know crowds tend to be a bit, shall we say one sided, in 'seeing' forwards but for Mr Hicks to not see one was quite a remarkable achievement. We were responsible for a bad one a couple of tackles before the first try, pass to Ainey iirc, still I guess I have to credit him with being consistent in that department as Wakey got a few in too.
Agreed, and although the prime fault for missing forward passes lies with the touchies, there were indeed several, from both teams, that any ref worth his salt would have pinged in an instant.
Bulliac wrote:
I can think of some worse efforts though.........
Maybe, but there certainly wouldn't be much in it.
Always understood that opposing players were supposed to stay still while a kick was being taken but Im not sure whether thats actually a rule or not.
It is, but one that again is rightly ignored, week in, week out, unless players absolutely take the mickey, like marginal offside at kickoff, or offside in goal line defence.