How to achieve better officiating?

[PaddyBoy]

Just wanted to bandy about a few ideas to achieve better refereeing overall. Ones I can think of:

-Better pay, both in terms of depth so second tier guys can be full time professional, and top end to make people want to aspire to become refs.

-Don't know if there are referee scouts, but that would be a top idea.

- Left field, but how about basing all the refereeing in Melbourne. Buy some houses where the referees can live, near a training compound, that they can live in rent free and fly them up for most of the games. Being able to walk around without copping a hiding from people would make the job better and make more people want to join.

Any ideas? Only good one I have is more money.

 

[T.T]

lol that last statement is ludicrous

what is better pay gonna do? nothing.. money should be spent towards training them maybe

 

[PaddyBoy]

lol that last statement is ludicrous

what is better pay gonna do? nothing.. money should be spent towards training them maybe

More than ludicrous, just trying to think of a way to get rid of the main downside to being a ref, which is being recognised and roundly hated by a large number of people (on field balaclavas?)

More money (and better advertising that there's a lot to be made) might make more people actively try to be referees. The quality would go up if there were more people to pick from.

The top referees already get paid a fair bit, but it would be a shit job, I reckon a fair few would get openly abused on the street.

 

[boxhead]

I went with other.

Other could help out the referees greatly.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Hire skeepe to be a referee...for free

 

[boxhead]

Skeepe would ensure the standard of refereeing reaches previously unseen heights. I'd be very excited if Skeepe was appointed as referee's boss.

 

[Chook Norris]

Greater incentive to become a ref would be a start

More (professional?) training at a junior level. Not sure many people want to become refs nowadays with the amount of scrutiny and shit they cop from the fans

 

[T.T]

alot of those refs are egotistical people who were bullied in school and out to get revenge by asserting their authority on a footy field.. quite sad really

brett suttor is the typical example of this

 

[bartman]

Go back to one ref in the middle, and double their pay by not having to pay the second ref - a failed experiment. No change to the budget bottom line.

At the same time simplify some of the rules/interpretations so they are more easily enforceable and clearer to the players and coaches (and commentators and fans). This will allow refs to be confident again, and garner some more respect.

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

Some rules need to be clarified, but I think fans, coaches and players need to be more accepting of errors that referees make and move on.

 

[joshie]

I am a referee (and player, so don't use that on me) and I do it for the love of the game. Believe it or not but the abuse you cop can be quite entertaining. Just yesterday I walked off the field and heard "you should be ashamed of yourself you filthy rat" whilst the winning team comes up and says "great work sir"

I think greater knowledge of the rules by fans is needed and people need to understand the difficulty of being a ref. the amount you have to watch, keep an eye on and decide on, it's amazing!

I think the Melbourne idea is a great one to be honest, it would relief pressures. Also training is very tough and demanding, you all forget the ref is always the fittest bloke out there.

 

[Usain Bolt]

More kiwi refs and less cheating aussies

 

[LazyDreamer]

Give them each a big pair of testicles so they have the balls to be referees & not reply so much on the video ref, the place-on-report system, and the MRC.

Also, mandatory personality testing before hiring. NRL refs seem to be like social workers - there's something not quite right about them...

 

[Pierced Soul]

paying them more wont do shit. it's not something you'd do for the money as Joshie said.

the problem with the current crop is that they've become bigger than the game, they come up with strange decisions no one else in 100 years has come up with and harrigan finds some obscure wording of a rule to justify it. they need a better refs coach, they need to gain a better understanding of the game and not think the game is about them

 

[Alan Johnson]

 

[Frailty]

Here are my ideas on how to improve:

- Revert back to one referee in the centre - The amount of errors has increased since this. If we revert back to one referee and limit the NRL Referee squad to a smaller number, we end up with more competition for first grade spots. More competition usually equates to better performance.

- Removal of Video referee - This has been a major (and yet overlooked) cause of referee poor performance. Referees know it is there, so will not make a decision and will not work hard to get in that better position to make a decision. The attitude is 'I can always check it, so I that extra metre is not needed' which is a poor attitude.

- Re-introduction of In Goal Judges - To assist with the removal of the video referee, the in-goal judges will add an extra pair of eyes into grounding of the ball, etc.

- More synchronisation from Junior Reps - The training and refereeing in the Junior Reps squad is quite different to the NRL. Techniques and positions pushed into the junior reps (who don't have the benefit of video replay) means they are refereeing the games differently when they enter the NRL squad.

- More accountability in performance assessment - This is the big one. The assessments, I believe, are not giving constructive feedback to the referees. We see the same mistakes being made by all referees (markers not being square for example) and no improvement is seen.

These are the key starting points for me.

 

[SharkShocked]

For me the biggest problem are the rules and the interpretations of rules we get at present.

Surely we can remove a lot of the grey areas of the game which will make it easier for refs to get things right and also for fans to understand / cop.

Take for example a player attempting to make a tackle and coming in contact with a ball that is passed. This used to be a nightmare for the referees deciding whether or not a player was playing at the ball.

Since we have moved to an interpretation stating that every time a player is attempting to make a tackle and coming in contact with the ball it is deemed as played at there is no confusion anymore and no decision really needs to be made. I remember this used to create great controversy, particularly with commentators.

Start with the rules, clean them up, get rid of 5-6 different "interpretations" of things and we will see a dramatic improvement.

 

[Slackboy72]

Some rules need to be clarified, but I think fans, coaches and players need to be more accepting of errors that referees make and move on.

A lot of rules need to be clarified. There is a lot of grey which is why you get the ruling you had in origin 1.

Get rid of Harrigan. He has always tried to engineer spectacles which is why so often you see a team behind on the scoreboard given legups.

More training. The fact that a video ref can get the rules wrong just points to the fact that not only do most people not know the rules but many refs knowledge is also lacking.

 

[Frailty]

Another point I'd add to my post is that there also needs to be two re-qualification testing for the NRL squad.

I.e. at the start of the year, and in the midway point all NRL squad members need to be assessed and tested on performance and knowledge to continue refereeing in the top grade. Those who fails to meet the benchmarks are relegated until the next assessment period.

 

[skeepe]

Put me in charge. I'll sort 'em out.