Two referees for NRL matches

[Bulldog Force]

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,24709048-5006066,00.html

Good news: NRL scraps video refs ruling on stripping, end the time dispute ever since the 2008 season started
Bad News: 2 refs in NRL games officially on the agenda.

Thumbs up for second ref

TWO referees in NRL matches is now a formality after the proposal received wide support at yesterday's chief executives' conference in Byron Bay. While the proposal must be officially endorsed by the NRL board, a majority of board members openly supported it at yesterday's conference.
The presence of the second referee, first revealed in The Daily Telegraph earlier this month, will also allow the NRL to reduce the powers of the video referee.
Video referees will no longer rule on stripping, ending a time-consuming blight on the game.
Video referees will be allowed discretion in cases of foul play, preventing players from remaining down long enough to give the video ref time to look at a replay.
"Under the previous rule the video referee had no discretion and any minor matter would result in a penalty," NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said.
"Because he had no discretion it could be argued there was an incentive for players to stay down in the hope they may get a penalty.
"Under this system he would only intervene when the matter was of a more serious nature and he would have the discretion to determine that."
Two referees will be implemented for the entire NRL season in 2009, marking one of the watershed moments in the game.
"The proposal is still to be adopted by the board but it's significant that a number of board members were here today and certainly we are looking at this as part of a significant investment in further raising the standards of on-field decisions," said NRL chief executive David Gallop.
"It is something that has been debated many times and there is a strong view that we need to try it and to see if it does in fact lead to the outcomes we all want, which is greater consistency and a better-flowing game.
"If it doesn't add value or if it is not proving effective, then we would review it."

 

[Timmah]

How is the 2 refs idea bad?

Have you ever tried sharing an opinion and actually backing it up with a reason?

 

[Bulldog Force]

Why is it a bad idea? Oh I don't know... how about throwing another 1000 refs in there while we're at it? We've got 1 ref, 2 touchies and video ref. WE DON'T NEED ANYMORE. We've gone 100 years without 2, we can go another 100 without 2.

Don't reply to my threads Timmah, all you do is bitch about them. Save your energy.

 

[Timmah]

If someone offers an opinion saying "oh it's bad" when there's no obvious reason - I will ask why, which you've now offered. As for what threads I'll reply to, that's my decision thanks.

As for your reason... the game of RL is all about progression. The model being considered has been viewed and even approved of by Andrew Johns. He thought it worked bloody well and watching some of the games in U20's late last year that utilised it I was actually impressed. If it improves regulation and refereeing standards in our game, then where's the negative? Being afraid of change isn't a good enough reason to knock something on the head, sorry. It is broke, and we do need to fix it.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

I agree if 2 touchies, the ref and a video ref cant get the job done another ref is just a waste of money and one more person to f**k it up.

 

[Joker's Wild]

It will mean that each ref will only have to concentrate on 1 particular aspect of the game and not have to devide their attention between ruck play and keeping defenders onside. This could only lead to less fug ups so I can only see positive outcomes from this.

 

[myanonymoususername]

I agree if 2 touchies, the ref and a video ref cant get the job done another ref is just a waste of money and one more person to f**k it up.

If we got refs like this we could have as many as they like!

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

It will mean that each ref will only have to concentrate on 1 particular aspect of the game and not have to devide their attention between ruck play and keeping defenders onside. This could only lead to less fug ups so I can only see positive outcomes from this.

More cooks can spoil the broth though. I can see more penalties happening, and the game slowing down further. Maybe even as far as RU in its amateur days.

 

[Slackboy72]

It was trialled earlier this year in the pre-season and it worked well.
It was trialled in toyota cup and it worked well.

FFS Just do it. It's a good idea, helps referees do their job, reduces guesswork and will help clean up the two biggest blights on the game.

...and if you've never reffed you really have no idea how hard it is.

 

[Dakink]

gota agree I like the idea. ?Give it a whirl - we cant get worse than we have had.

 

[rupertpupkin]

There has been an appalling trend towards officials and trainers coaching players and holding their hands. We got enough officials. It's the responsibility of the players to obey the rules. Problem is, the NRL is "adjusting" rules every other week. Cue a 2nd ref to deal with the ongoing mess that they have made with the changes over the last decade and a half. It's like painting your house with s***. If the result stinks, just cover it with a fresh coat of dung. The notion of another ref to set the 10 sounds more like a "shepherd". Don't need one. Every time the defence is offside, penalize. Why can't the touchies set and police? They are right there. They're looking right at them. They aren't doing anything else.

 

[Timmah]

To be fair, if we penalised for every little indiscretion, we'd turn into union.

 

[Slackboy72]

To be fair, if we penalised for every little indiscretion, we'd turn into union.

No, if we did that then the teams who played cleanly would get an advantage. We wouldn't want that would we? :roll:

 

[Joker's Wild]

No, if we did that then the teams who played cleanly would get an advantage. We wouldn't want that would we? :roll:

 

[seanoff]

seriously some of you act as if rugby league has never changed.

in which case tick which of these things you want to see returned

3 points for a try
2 points for a drop goal

UNLIMITED TACKLES
4 tackles
NO SUBS (at all)
or
Injury only subs and only before 1/2 time
or
2 subs allowed only if they had played lower grade on the same day

scrums of unlimited size with the only proviso being a 3 man front row

0 metre rule (defence back 0 metres from the ruck)
No dummy half running (if caught, then a scrum)


seriously. throwing in another on field referee to help isn't really a huge deal

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/nrl/story/0,27074,24725471-5016540,00.html

Wheels turning in referee revolution

By Chris Wilson | November 30, 2008 12:00am

THIS is the photo that shows NRL referees have their whistles at the ready for the biggest revolution in the officiating of rugby league.

The NRL board is yet to give its official tick of approval, but referees have begun brain-storming for next year's expected switch to two on-field officials.

For two weeks referees chief Robert Finch and his full-time squad have been spending more than an hour a day training specifically for the adaptation.

Just as every NRL team is now sweating it out in pre-season, the referees have been on the training paddock running through game scenarios, working out their new angles and commands.

And Brian Smith's Newcastle Knights have become the first NRL club to request a session under the new structure.

"We'd expect that in the New Year we will be out doing a lot of this with clubs,'' Finch said.

"I'm sure they'll be keen to see it and we'd be keen to do it in their scrimmage sessions.''

While the role of the central referee will virtually remain the same, it's the second man - or pocket referee - that will take most getting used to.

The pocket referee will position himself on the opposite side of the field to the central referee, behind the ruck. Between the two, it should give a 360-degree view of the play-the-ball.

Only the central referee will control the match at any one time, but both officials will be wired for communication. The referees will switch roles every time the ball is turned over, the central referee handing over responsibility with a shout of "Yours''.

Studies show referees will actually cover more distance under the two-person structure, but the physical demands are at a much lower intensity.

Finch said the referees' squad would expand from 14 to 18, and hasn't ruled out some doing more than one NRL game a weekend.

"(With two referees) I think it's possible for the senior referees to do more than one game on a weekend, although they couldn't do that for 26 weeks,'' Finch said.

Veteran Steve Clark denied clashing egos would be a problem.

"They all know if this comes in it's a landmark moment ... there's no room for ego,'' Clark said.

 

[ozbash]

Finch said the referees' squad would expand from 14 to 18, and hasn't ruled out some doing more than one NRL game a weekend.

"(With two referees) I think it's possible for the senior referees to do more than one game on a weekend, although they couldn't do that for 26 weeks,'' Finch said.

Veteran Steve Clark denied clashing egos would be a problem.

"They all know if this comes in it's a landmark moment ... there's no room for ego,'' Clark said.

the refs must be fulltime, paid proffesionals.
all refs should be evaluated each week
if they are to do more than 1 game a week, it should only be running touch
i think ego's are one of the current crop of refs biggest failing. some think they are bigger than the game.

Surely, all U20's refs should be close to NRL ready ? most of the ones i saw last season are at least on par.

Its a good move imo having the 2 on feild officials but with the vid ref, are we going to become over officiated ?

The standard of reffing is my biggest concern, no good being proactive with the game if we continue with the same idiots determining the results of matches..

 

[RL1908]

I'm not convinced of the merit of the idea - yet - it will be interesting to see how it plays out early in the season.

As long as the 2nd ref doesn't add to the already annoying cacophony of "referee-barking" audio track, and doesn't become RL's version of a wrestling/boxing referee at every tackle (meaning he'll be on the tv screen at each and every tackle), then I'll have less concerns.

 

[NickY]

I am dead set against two refs out on the field. My biggest problem is interpretation and how there will be more stoppages during the game. These high paid players will work out a way to use the second ref at the ruck as a shephard to their advantage. I think the shephard rule will need to be revised to some respect to incorporate a second ref. Also the fact that the video ref still remains won't quicken the game up because both refs will still use the power to go upstairs and this will slow the game.

 

[Turtle]

I'm for the idea but I would like to see the referees divided into pairs and have each pair referee together for the whole season. This will develop more consistency in each individual match then having them ref with someone new each weekend. Put one senior guy with one up and comer.

So obviously if one has a shocker the two should get dropped, not really fair on the other but better for the game in general.