Neutral refs (new level of farce has been reached)

[langpark]

England vs NZ (English ref)
NZ vs Aus (Aussie ref)


http://www.rugby-league.com/article...dbrokes-four-nations-opening-rounds-announced


WTF!????????? I thought the whole point of flying two refs out from Aus was so that at least the NZ/England match would have neutral refs. Absolutely zero logic in all this, I'm at a loss for words.

 

[The Daddy3]

Nothing surprises me anymore, do the morons who 'run' our sport not understand that things like this stop people from taking international RL seriously?

 

[Last Week]

Come on people, it's not hard to work out.

England vs NZ prefer an English ref because they will ref it closer to a SL match.

Australia vs NZ prefer an Australian ref as they will ref it closer to an NRL match.

All refs are neutral. It's only your perception which needs to be satisfied.

 

[langpark]

Come on people, it's not hard to work out.

England vs NZ prefer an English ref because they will ref it closer to a SL match.

Australia vs NZ prefer an Australian ref as they will ref it closer to an NRL match.

All refs are neutral. It's only your perception which needs to be satisfied.

ok and how is that fair on NZ exactly?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

NZ might prefer it or have even requested it.

 

[langpark]

The only thing more shocking than this display of amateurism, is the amount of apologists actually supporting it.

 

[Burns]

The only thing more shocking than this display of amateurism, is the amount of apologists actually supporting it.

Hey now, its international rugby league. You come to expect less then perfect. We had a thread on this recently, are there even ref outside the Big 3 capable?

Also this from the announcement:

It has also been confirmed that Australian Bernard Sutton will join the Match Officials group as a Video Referee along with, Touch Judge Anthony Elliott from New Zealand.

Speaking about the appointments, Ladbrokes Four Nations Tournament Director, Jon Dutton, said: “A tremendous amount of work and thought has gone into the appointments process and I am very grateful to Steve, Tony and Luke for their vision and collaboration.

“The tournament has appointed four high performing world-class referees who will be joined by an excellent team of support officials. The decision to award matches based on merit rather than country neutrality is a progressive move by all concerned and shows the confidence we have in officials and the focus on recognising and rewarding good performance.”

The Big 3, in particular NZ agreed to this. Its not perfect, and it should hopefully be remedied by the WC but I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[roughyedspud]

Both suttons should never be allowed near test footy ever again..bent tw*ts

 

[Last Week]

Both suttons should never be allowed near test footy ever again..bent tw*ts

Still butt hurt. Lol.

 

[roughyedspud]

yep...

 

[Usain Bolt]

Mickey Mouse stuff

 

[langpark]

Hey now, its international rugby league. You come to expect less then perfect. We had a thread on this recently, are there even ref outside the Big 3 capable?

That I can accept, but when you have Eng vs NZ, you've spent thousands of $$$ flying Aussie refs out and not using them?? Where is the logic. We have no leg to stand on when this sort of thing happens.

 

[kiwileaguefan]

Surely NZRL had to of agreed to this? Its crazy because the only test they won against England last year was with an Aussie referee.

To be fair, if an Australian referee was to officiate in this match it would be advantage NZ as they are all from the NRL. I guess an English referee will allow more wrestle around the ruck compared to an NRL referee.

Its a shame we have no referees from NZ, France or PNG that are capable of standing up to International level.

 

[langpark]

Surely NZRL had to of agreed to this? Its crazy because the only test they won against England last year was with an Aussie referee.

To be fair, if an Australian referee was to officiate in this match it would be advantage NZ as they are all from the NRL. I guess an English referee will allow more wrestle around the ruck compared to an NRL referee.

Its a shame we have no referees from NZ, France or PNG that are capable of standing up to International level.

From France there are some decent ones, but they never get a look in. Not even Thierry Alibert when in Super League got matches like this. They'd only ever throw him 'scraps' like a USA vs Cook Islands match.