Re: Referees Over The Years : Fri May 22, 2020 3:33 pm  

Porterjoh wrote:

I've been watching rugby since I was 8 (so 98) and I can't remember a single ref I thought was good. The vast majority come over like arrogant self-important people, to be honest.

I've been watching since 1959 and I'm really hard pushed to name a consistently good ref. Now bear in mind, it's got to be one of the hardest jobs in the world, reffing a RL game . You've got to have your eyes everywhere. Also, bear in mind 'touch judges' have often been rather lacking in supporting these refs too.

All that being said. Even the likes of 'Sgt Major' Eric Clay, who was a pompous ref IMHO and who often couldn't keep up with play, but who is lauded as being a 'great ref' by the pundits was not very good. A character yes. A good ref no. Kirkpatrick was also a character.

One ref who does stand out for me, was that really biased Australian ref who GB complained about - was it Bill Harrigan IIRC ? Australia didn't need any help on the field, but Harrigan often made sure when he was around.

Re: Referees Over The Years : Sat May 23, 2020 5:40 pm  

"Hollywood Bill"

Re: Referees Over The Years : Sun May 24, 2020 10:54 am  

Russell Smith bent over for the Aussies on more than one occasion , and ended up reffing , and living over there .

Re: Referees Over The Years : Sun May 24, 2020 2:05 pm  

Brick with eyes wrote:

Russell Smith bent over for the Aussies on more than one occasion , and ended up reffing , and living over there .

A lot of the uk refs seem to give the benefit of the doubt to NRL teams. It’s either sucking up to big brother or some ill judged effort to be deemed impartial

Re: Referees Over The Years : Sun May 24, 2020 2:57 pm  

stpatricks wrote:

A lot of the uk refs seem to give the benefit of the doubt to NRL teams. It’s either sucking up to big brother or some ill judged effort to be deemed impartial

Whereas their refs are openly biased and don't care

Re: Referees Over The Years : Sun May 24, 2020 9:09 pm  

Steve Presley
Stuart Cummings
Karl Kirkpatrick
Ian Smith
Steve Ganson

were my top 5

Re: Referees Over The Years : Mon May 25, 2020 7:23 am  

sally cinnamon wrote:

Steve Presley
Stuart Cummings
Karl Kirkpatrick
Ian Smith
Steve Ganson

were my top 5

How anyone other than Saints fans could put Stuart Cummings in the top 5 is beyond me.

He was indescribably awful. Biased or just plain incompetent? Take your pick. It doesn't matter. The only ref I can remember whose arrogant poppinjay attitude to his own poor performances saw him get attacked on the field (not that I applaud that incident, but it shows how much annoyance he'd caused).

Re: Referees Over The Years : Mon May 25, 2020 9:24 pm  

Some embarrassing comments on this thread. If you think every single match official you have ever seen is poor then I'd invite you to consider that either:
A - You don't fully understand the intricacies of the rules, or how the officials work together (and with the players) to enforce them.
OR
B - Your expectations are beyond what hundreds of men over decades of rugby games have tried their best to deliver, and therefore basically impossible.
I'd suggest for 99% of fans it's A. You don't understand, but somehow feel qualified to criticise anyway. I wonder why we struggle to attract match officials.

Re: Referees Over The Years : Tue May 26, 2020 6:48 am  

Grimmy wrote:

Some embarrassing comments on this thread. If you think every single match official you have ever seen is poor then I'd invite you to consider that either:
A - You don't fully understand the intricacies of the rules, or how the officials work together (and with the players) to enforce them.
OR
B - Your expectations are beyond what hundreds of men over decades of rugby games have tried their best to deliver, and therefore basically impossible.
I'd suggest for 99% of fans it's A. You don't understand, but somehow feel qualified to criticise anyway. I wonder why we struggle to attract match officials.

Well said and it is not only the Referees, but the whole administration of the game.

The country today is full of people who can only criticise others, when they could do no better themselves!

Re: Referees Over The Years : Tue May 26, 2020 11:06 am  

Ruddy Duck wrote:

Well said and it is not only the Referees, but the whole administration of the game.

The country today is full of people who can only criticise others, when they could do no better themselves!

Unlike yourself?

"The reason it looks better and faster is because the Referee's in the NRL, ignore many of the things which our Referees blow up for and allow the game to flow!"

More U turns than Dominic Cummings