Richard Silverwood.

[DecoyRunner]

Sorry, i think you've got things the wrong way round. We shouldn't be changing the game to try and package it for television. That's a sure-fire way to f**k it up. First you make the game good and then you think about how to market it. The game is fine anyway (could do with a few tweaks) and changing it for the wrong reasons will ruin what makes it great.

Anyway, what league has over other sports is the exciting part. Rugby League is a WAR. Two teams face each other and run straight at each other. People love the big hits and gladitorial nature of the game. With your knowledge of US sports, do you know that when they banned fighting in the NHL the ratings dropped? As soon as they made rules for fighting (ie they allowed it again) the ratings went back up!

That's why I said "right now". Like it or not, they have to pander to TV audiences until the next broadcast deal is done. Union is just as, if not more of a physical war than league. The real advantage our game has is our ball play and athleticism, not brute force. The most watched team in union is also the one playing most like a league team; the Reds.

I'm not saying change the game and I'm not saying take away the physical aspect. I'm saying that we need people other than league fans to watch on the weekend. Those people are not purists and do not care for the intricacies of the arm wrestle as you and I do. They want attacking football with unreal athleticism, and the most obvious form of that is in the try-scoring.

You can say "well, screw them then", but the NRL are not in a position to say that just yet. One day they will be and the game will be better off for it.

 

[Coaster]

I loved it, I have always said the game would be better without halfbacks and referees.

Makes me wonder why we have 2 of these idiots on the field?

 

[lockyrulz]

Fifty percent of the game is defence. I never found the rucks in the Test match to be overly slow. Club games need help to be consistently exciting for 26 weeks. Test matches don't.

Maybe they couldn't crack the line cause they don't know how to without help from the refs?

Are you saying there weren't exciting or skillful footballers in the days of the five metre rule? That rule improved attack because players had to be a lot more creative to get past the defence.

Ken Irvine scored 200+ tries in his career. This will likely never be beaten and he did it in the days of the five metre rule. So did Renouf, Meninga, Lewis, Sterling, Kenny, Ferguson and many of the game's greatest ever attacking players.

Why do you need to ask me what I said? It's there in black and white.

Like I said, if the refs performed the way silverwood did every week, the NRL would be as boring as batshit to watch in 6 weeks.

 

[boxhead]

It was a great refereeing performance, it slowed the game down and he didn't blow pedantic penalties. The game was fought in the forwards like any classic rugby league match and it was great to see, not the over-reliance on penalties and talented playmakers breaking the dead-lock. Sure, boring attacking footy for most of the game but the tries that were scored were either special or off mistakes.

 

[Big Pete]

I thought it was an ordinary game...but it wasn't the refs fault.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

It was a fine performance, that is the way rugby league should be refereed. I still believe there are some very good referees in the NRL, it's the way they are coached that is the problem. There should be less focus on all the soft pedantic ruck penalties and more on letting the game flow. If Silverwood ever came to Australia he would be told to referee the same way every other NRL referee does.

Ashley Klein is a good example, he was a great referee until he came to the NRL.

 

[Spanner in the works]

Why do you need to ask me what I said? It's there in black and white.

Like I said, if the refs performed the way silverwood did every week, the NRL would be as boring as batshit to watch in 6 weeks.

You know what's boring as batshit? Watching pedantic referees blow their whistle every five seconds. Especially at the game.

 

[Coaster]

You know what's boring as batshit? Watching pedantic referees blow their whistle every five seconds. Especially at the game.

+1

 

[The Electric Horseman]

Best referreed game ive seen in Australia this year

 

[Perth Red]

What a breathe of fresh air!

No screaming at players every tackle, no pedantic whistle blowing, players having to work for field position, the best team winning rather than the ref deciding the game. I thought these days had long gone! They should make every NRL ref watch a video of this game 20 times!

Compare this to the city v country game or the Storm v Broncos game where the ref basically handed teams field position and the game was decided by who could get 20metres over the line or put the best short kick in.

I salute you Silverwood for reminding us what the game is really about!

 

[Scarves]

When a game is refereed like this, the better team always wins and there is never controversy about referee decisions changing critical momentum or deciding the outcome. It is what the fans and the players seek from the officials.

My only criticism lay with the ten metres. It looked more like seven but it was the same for both no my complaint isn't too loud.

 

[get amongst it]

bollocks

 

[Pierced Soul]

best reffereeing performance i've seen in years. the game was about the players, not which ref could blow his whistle more or screaming at players liek school kids. he wasnt trying to get noticed on tv and the best refereeing eprformances are the ones where you barely notice the ref out there.

he'd be great in origin, however i'm fairly certain it was ashley klein (apologies if it was someone else) who was based in england who reffed a aus-NZ test and we all thought he was great but when he came to the nrl Finch turned him into a geniused whistle happy mong

the nrl almost has a sub-game which is to try and milk penlaties as best you can so you dont have to do the hard work getting the ball out of your own half

 

[Eion]

He did some good things - like not coaching the players.

BUT the bloke refused to penalise, he didn't actually referree. His 2 penalties were for a high shot and the Idris mid air tackle that he absolutely had to give.

It'd be OK if there were no infringements in the game, but there were, a lot of them. I think Gal actually fell asleep on Jeremy Smith at one stage. If the ref did that in the nrl it would degenerate further with the play the balls slower, sloppier and a 5 metre "10 metres".