Referees Over The Years : Mon May 11, 2020 8:53 pm  

On the back of the commentator thread, it had me thinking, what else is devaluing Super League currently? I made the short leap to referees. Whether it be sky high penalty counts, inconsistency, or the fact our referees often leap to decisions based on emotion (Gildart getting his penalty reversed for ironically tapping a player on the head comes to mind).

For me it’s not that 2020 referees lack the game control that some their predecessors had, but it almost seems they are trained to reembody Steve Ganson in his hay day, but I feel more often than not it comes across as cocky lil lads on a power trip, rather than someone not be messed with.

Who’s the best and worst refs SL has seen? Where would 2020 line up rank?

Re: Referees Over The Years : Tue May 12, 2020 12:48 am  

Best - Russell Smith
Worst - Colin Morris

Re: Referees Over The Years : Tue May 12, 2020 4:49 am  

Best: Russell Smith
Worst: Thierry Alibert

I did kind of like Alibert though, he was so useless you knew he couldn't possibly be biased

Re: Referees Over The Years : Tue May 12, 2020 8:07 am  

I struggle to think of any who I'd classify as half-decent. Few score as low as Silverwood did after he famously was the only person in the stadium who didn't hear the hooter until Hull KR had got over the whitewash for what proved to be the winning points. But every one of the current crop have been guilty of inconsistent and arbitrary judgements that have unfairly loaded the dice in one team's favour.

They weren't much better in the past. Cummings was notoriously terrible, as were the likes of Lindop and Billy Thompson before him.

Ironically, I don't think Ganson was as bad as others have said. He was certainly a poser, but the players reportedly liked him for his banter and his clarity on the field, plus, as he was known to be a Saints fan, he tended to be as even-handed as possible during Wigan v Saints derbies.

For me, the best one by far was the Aussie, Greg McCallum. I never remember him being anything other than scrupulously fair when he controlled matches. As Shaun Edwards said when he was chosen to ref a GB v Aus test, "I've no probelm with that. He's the best referee in the world." Unfortunately, Greg wasn't over here for very long.

Re: Referees Over The Years : Tue May 12, 2020 11:45 am  

Suprised at Russel Smith , most Leeds fans thought he was one of the worst .

Re: Referees Over The Years : Tue May 12, 2020 11:56 am  

I used to like John Holdsworth, if only for all his facial expressions that he used to use.
Best refs for me though, Karl Kirkpatrick & Robin Whitfield

Re: Referees Over The Years : Tue May 12, 2020 12:02 pm  

If we get Thaler or Hicks then there's a good chance we're on the wrong side of a hefty penalty count.

Child is just inept.

Re: Referees Over The Years : Tue May 12, 2020 2:39 pm  

hatty wrote:

I used to like John Holdsworth, if only for all his facial expressions that he used to use.
Best refs for me though, Karl Kirkpatrick & Robin Whitfield

I can only assume that this is intended to be humorous.

As for John Holdsworth. In the days when refs weren't allowed to control games in which their home town team was playing, I always loved the way Wigan v Leeds was regularly reffed by John Holdsworth 'from Kippax' (which is in Leeds).

Re: Referees Over The Years : Tue May 12, 2020 3:00 pm  

Cruncher wrote:

I can only assume that this is intended to be humorous.

As for John Holdsworth. In the days when refs weren't allowed to control games in which their home town team was playing, I always loved the way Wigan v Leeds was regularly reffed by John Holdsworth 'from Kippax' (which is in Leeds).

You sussed me I cried the day we sold Colin as it mean’t Robin was then allowed to ref our games.
What was the French ref in the early 80s Rascagneres or something, he was comical to watch as he didn’t seem to have a clue.

Re: Referees Over The Years : Tue May 12, 2020 4:56 pm  

Cruncher wrote:

I can only assume that this is intended to be humorous.

As for John Holdsworth. In the days when refs weren't allowed to control games in which their home town team was playing, I always loved the way Wigan v Leeds was regularly reffed by John Holdsworth 'from Kippax' (which is in Leeds).

my mate always said that we only signed colin whitfield to stop robin from reffing us