Finch sacks refs and changes advantage rule

[El Diablo]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/n...-nrl-round-seven/story-e6frfgbo-1225856015075

Robert Finch sacks Ben Cummins and Gerard Sutton for NRL round seven

* From: The Daily Telegraph
* April 20, 2010 3:08PM

NRL referees boss Robert Finch has today sacked two referees for incompetent displays in the round six clash between Parramatta and Souths.

Referees Ben Cummins and Gerard Sutton have been dropped to the lower grades after their disgraceful decisions to sin-bin Parramatta captain Nathan Cayless and Souths centre Beau Champion.

The Daily Telegraph's Sport Editor-at-large Phil Rothfield described the decision as a victory for commonsense.

"This is a a great win for The Daily Telegraph and our readers who all drove the message hard yesterday that they were no longer prepared to tolerate sub-standard refereeing," Rothfield said.

Despite making the correct call to axe the whistleblowers, referees boss Finch was still standing by his edict to sin-bin players for repeated indiscretions.

In a statement released by the NRL at 2.45pm, Finch said: "Referees will continue to crack down on teams that continually breach the rules but it is clearly unacceptable for the wrong player to be sent to the sin-bin.

"Referees are accountable for their performances and between the two of them this error should not have occurred.

"It is now up to both Ben and Gerard to work their way back into the top grade, which I am sure they will do.”

The NRL statement continued: "Finch today also announced that the referees’ interpretation of the advantage rule would revert back to the discretion of the referees and that, from Round 7, the 10-metre territorial gain for the advantage rule will no longer apply.

"The 10-metre ruling was designed to get more consistency from all referees, which is what every club, player and fan wants, but it has become apparent that the advantage rule interpretation should be left to the discretion of the referees and that is what will occur from this week."

 

[hunters]

Well the refs deserved that but finch could do with a spell in reserves too.

On the advantage rule, I was fine with it the way it was. Now we are going to have to put up with Gould whinging about not enough or too much advantage being given instead of a clear cut reference. Although he will probably be over the moon the first couple of times it's applied until he forgets that he argued for this.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Well the refs deserved that but finch could do with a spell in reserves too.

On the advantage rule, I was fine with it the way it was. Now we are going to have to put up with Gould whinging about not enough or too much advantage being given instead of a clear cut reference. Although he will probably be over the moon the first couple of times it's applied until he forgets that he argued for this.

sorry the advantage rule was ridiculous. basically a team could pick up a loose ball 7 meters out from the tryline, throw it through 8 sets of hands, put a grubber in, regather, pass it twice more, get tackled, then lose the ball in the tackle and get the scrum feed.

i think once youve passed it and the reciever has a good handle on it then its play on.

 

[jc155776]

Good to see rule changes during the f**king season.

Amateurs.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

Great....

That f**king stupid new advantage rule cost us a shot at beating the Gold Coast earlier in the year and now they decide to get rid of it...

Brilliant!

 

[gronkathon]

Having seen the standard of officials in NSW Cup & Toyota Cup in the Senior ranks I really hope we don't get one of them at Penrith Park this weekend

 

[hellteam]

Unfortunately I think this rule change is going to lead to more complaints. The other one was a bit weird, but at least it was consistent (except that time the ref got it wrong in Panthers vs Storm)

 

[hunters]

sorry the advantage rule was ridiculous. basically a team could pick up a loose ball 7 meters out from the tryline, throw it through 8 sets of hands, put a grubber in, regather, pass it twice more, get tackled, then lose the ball in the tackle and get the scrum feed.

Which has never happened.

Conversely following on from your scenario. Opposition drops the ball 20m out from your line, you pick it up and pass it 1m back, the bloke holds it but drops it in the tackle and you're deemed to have gotten an advantage! That is truly ridiculous.

 

[Ike E Bear]

If the step away from the inflexible (and ridiculous) application of the advantage rule sets a broader trend of less micro-management from Finch in general then WAHOOOOO!!!!

More discretion for the on-field referees is the only hope of seeing some commonsense return to the way games are officiated.

Finch can't control everything ... no matter how many KPIs he invents.

 

[Timbo]

....since when was it up to Robert Finch to change the rules of the game?

 

[Goddo]

THis is just a diversion to get everyone off his own back. Finch isn't doing this because he wants to.

 

[Ronnie Dobbs]

Why the f**k didn't they just change it inside the opposition 20? Pretty straight forward.

Deadset. Idiots run this game. If it weren't for the fans who love it, these blokes would be begging for cash at Central. At best.

 

[Zoggy]

I dont like rules being changed during the season , its unfair to the teams who might have missed out on an opportunityto win the game with the new rule in play.

 

[adamkungl]

"This is a a great win for The Daily Telegraph and our readers who all drove the message hard yesterday that they were no longer prepared to tolerate sub-standard refereeing," Rothfield said.

Moron.

"It is now up to both Ben and Gerard to work their way back into the top grade, which I am sure they will do.”

ffs.

The NRL statement continued: "Finch today also announced that the referees’ interpretation of the advantage rule would revert back to the discretion of the referees and that, from Round 7, the 10-metre territorial gain for the advantage rule will no longer apply.

Good that the rule has changed, but how ameteurish is it to have rule changes mid season, and how the f**k is this clown actually allowed to change rules. His job is to ensure the referees aren't sh*t, not to influence the rules in any way. ARghhhhhh

 

[Misanthrope]

I'm sorry hunters, but you're an idiot if you were a fan of the previous incarnation of advantage. If you're able to pass it more than once, you're taking your advantage. If you pass it five times and player #5 knocks on but you've not made ten metres, why should you get another crack? You tried and you failed.

 

[Green Machine]

Robert Finch was on Triple M on Saturday and said the reason for this new interpretation of the advantage rule was because he didn’t want a situation where two referees gave a different interpretation of advantage in one game.
I think its time the game had a rules committee and take control of the rules from the coaches and people like Robert Finch,

 

[nehalem]

wow, about time

now to get finch fired ....hmmm..

 

[Green Machine]

THis is just a diversion to get everyone off his own back. Finch isn't doing this because he wants to.

He’s doing because he was made out to be a total flip on Triple M on Saturday,

 

[skeepe]

Good news, but this quote from an earlier article today worries me greatly:

Finch rejected Mortimer's assertion referees were being too picky and said the Eels halfback should be grateful he remained on the field.


"I'd suggest to you he hasn't looked at the key indicators," Finch said.


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...ing-wrong-player/story-e6frg7mf-1225855701154

No Robert... he probably hasn't looked at the KPI's... he's probably read the rule book though, something that I'm less and less sure that you have access to.

 

[green eyed mike]

I don't have a problem with a slightly longer advantage being played, if the other team makes an error and you pick up the ball and run but turn it over on that play where is the advantage? Sure if you have made a significant break down field (say more than 10 metres) you have probably had a fair crack but advantage should benefit the team that forced the error, not the other way around.

But once again this is designed to distract attention away from the fact that Finch is incapable of doing his job. I can see his response to claims that changing the rules mid-season is bad for the game "we haven't changed any of the rules, we ahve changed the way that referees are directed to interpret a particular rule"

Give the game back to the ref on the field and take it away from KPIs and associated BS.