*Bumble for the Rabbitohs*
Not another Storm article
I am far from a Brisbane Broncos fan. Ive booed them on many occasions and I cant remember ever going for them in one of their grand finals not that I have anything against them particularly, perhaps Im just jealous of their success in the last 20 years, whilst Souths have floundered during that time.
Despite this, I found myself yelling abuse at referees Jared Maxwell and Gavin Badger. Just 2 minutes into the first half, and the game in the balance at 12-6, Darren Lockyer sent a great kick down into the Bulldogs in-goal, piercing between Luke Patten and Steve Turner. The latter eventually picked the ball up, and was forced back behind the try line by three Brisbane defenders. Instead, a very dodgy penalty for lifting was issued, letting the Bulldogs off the hook.
In the very same set, another dodgy call by the men in pink this time for taking out a kick chaser who seemed to just fall over. The Bulldogs get even closer. A third and final penalty for a high shot around the shoulder area, and the home team kick a penalty goal from about 10m out, right in front. 14-6.
From the ensuing kick-off, the Bulldogs spread wide early, and are given another penalty for a Broncos player apparently taking out Jamal Idris who was chasing through on a kick (that he had no chance of getting to) and went down with a dive that Cristiano Ronaldo wouldve been proud of. They scored from the penalty
and try in which there was more than a hint of obstruction, which was ignored. 20-6.
So what started with one dodgy penalty, blossomed into a series of errors from the officials that completely destroyed the game. Instead of the score remaining 12-6 with Brisbane attacking the Bulldogs line, it was 20-6 in just a few minutes. Assuming that the Broncos couldve scored and made it 12-12, it was a 14 point turnaround. And it was 100% due to the referees.
Ive never been one to blindly attack referees, but that 5 minute period in this particular game was so badly officiated that it upset me, a neutral. The fact that I tipped the Broncos probably didnt help. Unfortunately, I dont think there is a quick fix to this problem. Or indeed, do I think theres a long-term solution. Simply put, referees are human
and will continue to make human errors. On the other hand, to give the video referee too much input would destroy the flow of a match.
There is no real way to fix the refereeing situation. But once again, we could look towards our American neighbours for a smarter solution. In the NFL, each coach is allowed 2 opportunities within a game to challenge a call made by a referee. If the video evidence proves the official to be wrong, the call is overturned. Limiting the number of times that a challenge can be made would prevent the game from becoming too bogged down with reviews, and would ensure that the coaches didnt waste them on frivolous things.
The only thing I would change about the American system is that even when a coach his right, he loses one of his challenge options Which in theory would mean that if the referees made three bad calls against your team (which happened to the Broncos in the space of 5 minutes) theres nothing you could do about it.
As far as what happens if the coach gets it wrong, an incorrect challenge warrants a time-out being taken from you. Since we dont have those, I would suggest a penalty to the other team from where the incident occurred. The more sensible option would be to award a free kick so that a penalty goal wouldnt be an option to the other team.
So it would be fair to say that there is less that 2 or 3 contentious decisions in most games of Rugby League. With a challenge system in place, that number drops to zero. Theres a solution, without crucifying the referees.
And no matter how bad they get, theyre never going to be as bad as the linesman in my soccer game on Saturday who called me offside from a throw-in
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Not quiet we were hoping for, sorry Bunnies and Panthers!
