I've watched the game three times already, once as a spectator, once from a critical point of view looking at the referee and a second time trying look at the referee from an Australian perspective.
I'm not going to suggest that England should have or would have won this game had they received a fair crack of the whip from the officials but equally it would be naive to think that referees don't influence the results of games by making crucial decisions at certain times of the game and in certain parts of the pitch.
Looking at statistics will not tell you even half the story, a referee is aware of the penalty count at half-time and can adjust his performance to try and level the statistics in order to deflect criticism.
I'd like to believe that Tony Archer had one bad game but unfortunately I've seen his refereeing performances against England and Great Britain and it's not just one bad game. With that in mind I'd like to believe that Tony Archer is a poor referee but the fact that he gets this gig suggests he is the best that the Australian game can offer. The only alternative view is that he is bent or completely incompetent and that purely by chance Australia have benefited from his incompetence every time he's been a referee during their games
Here's some facts and figures from the game, I'll point out that I have watched the game and made these notes whilst trying to be as objective as possible. I've only listed the blatantly obvious incidents and have left the everyday matter of fact errors of judgement by officials and players alone.
2nd minute: Gallen moves off the mark but the referee gives a penalty against Ben Westwood
4th minute: contentious one, Tate knocks on under pressure Tony Archer calls for a penalty try, video gives a penalty which I can live with
5th minute: Luke Lewis scores a try from the pressuer created by Tony Archers decision against Ben Westwood
16th minute: Nate Myles rakes the ball out in at a two-on-one tackle with Thaiday while tackling Darrell Goulding Tony Archer gives a knock-on where it should have been a penalty to England.
18th minute: From the resulting scrum Luke Lewis scores for Australia, this follows a blatant knock-on by Cooper Cronk which Tony Archer and the video ref both miss
21st minute: Earl Crabtree takes his first drive and David Shillington clearly has hold of his ponytail while making the tackle which results in a sloppy play the ball and James Roby knocks on. Should have been a penalty to England instead Australia gets a scrum.
22nd minute: From the scrum Billy Slater scores a try the replay shows a double knock-on first from Tom Briscoe then from Brent Tate before Billy Slater touches down.
26th minute: Sam Tomkins is clearly tripped by Tom Learoyd Lahrs which happens right in front of Tony Archer but no penalty!
27th minute: When England should be attacking from a penalty Australia now have possession and from this set of six Brent Tate scores a contentious try which the replays show the possibility of a right ankle being on the touchline and the probability that he bounced the ball.
29th minute: Tony Archer pulls an offside penalty from nowhere and England are again under pressure, the offside is no different than 90% of all the play the balls during a game
30th minute: following the penalty and during the resulting set of six Willie Tonga scores a try
35th minute: Tom Briscoe puts Leroy Cudjoe through a gap from a pass which is flat at worst, Cudjoe is in the clear and could potentially score but Tony Archer pulls them back for a forward pass
Half Time: the damage is done and Tony Archer can go back to the dressing room and assess what he needs to do in order to avoid questions about his impartiality.
46th minute: Australia score a try from a Luke Lewis pass to Cooper Cronk which is 2.5 m forward. Tony Archer and his officials failed to see it yet Tony Archer's last major involvement in the game was to halt an England move which could have resulted in a try for a forward pass that wasn't.
48th minute:Tom Learoyd Lahrs clearly knocks on at the play the ball but Tony Archer sees a penalty to Australia
51st minute: David Shillington clearly impedes Shaun Lunt from an offside position but Tony Archer waves play on
57th minute: England under pressure having conceded two drop outs, from the second Nate Myles clearly knocks on at the play the ball but Tony Archer waves play on and England remain under pressure in defence
58 minute: having withstood the pressure Sam Burgess has the ball raked out by Paul Gallen in a three on one tackle Tony Archer gives Australia a scrum instead of an England penalty
59th minute: Pantomime time, Cameron Smith clearly taps the ball which is obviously against the wishes of Darren Lockyer and Tony Archer allows them to change their mind. Worse than that he then lectures James Graham for having the audacity as England captain to question what just happened.
65th minute: Another two on one strip this time on Joel Tomkins by Nate Myles and Anthony Watmough, should have been another England penalty yet Tony Archer gives Australian the scrum
70th minute: another contentious one, Shaun Lunt seems to have scored a try, the video ref passes it back to Tony Archer who instantly says no try.
