Didnt look that way. Anyway, seems like the referee was confused through the game and allowing the players to influence him if there was a forward pass etc.
Do the referees recieve any training over there at all. I remember reading an NRL reffed the game last year.
Like the players, the refs naturally don't compare with NRL refs. But as an outsider I'd have to say that the standard of officiating, generally speaking, this year has been the best it's been for years (in the USARL. I can't comment on the AMNRL as I didn't see a game). In past years the amnrl struggled to get refs to games and some games had to be reffed by one of the team's coaches. This year most of the games I saw were reffed by better quality (by US standards) refs.
One of the issues is something that you alluded to. There is a culture here of players giving refs sh*t throughout the game, to an extent that I never witnessed at home (I'm a kiwi). We saw that at the grand final. So there is naturally not a lot of people who want to do it. Still, everything RL in USA improved this year - standard of play, officiating, crowds, sponsors. Still a way to go but heading in the right direction.
Regarding the NRL ref last year, he was a guest for a one-off.
Don't know about training but I believe there is something.
