Referees continue to dent the NRL's integrity

Another week of sport goes by and the National Rugby League still find a way to lure in the headlines for the wrong reasons. 

This time around it is on the distasteful conduct of Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs fans on display at the conclusion of South Sydney Rabbitohs versus Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium last Friday night. 

After the game water bottle missiles were launched at officials as they walked down the tunnel with one official being hospitalised as a result. 

I do not want to discuss the Adam Reynolds and James Graham incident on the field just yet, but rather the performance of NRL referees that continually come under question week in week out. 

The relationship between players and the referees is getting worse, and worse each week.

Yes, the behaviour of Bulldogs fans was deplorable. 

The club should be fined appropriately and its fans should be banned from attending game(s), similar to what they do for some European soccer teams overseas.  

They call it a ‘ghost’ fixture where the home fans are forbidden from watching their team from inside the stadium as a result of discreditable conduct that a small minority of Bulldogs fans similarly demonstrated last week.

As a tragic fan of soccer in Europe, I am under the impression that this method works most of the time.

Aside from this, I’d still rather talk about how or if we can keep defending rugby league referees.

I must say that there is not another sport in Australia where officials cop it so much from the media and fans alike. 

But I have to say, it is for good reason. 

99% of spectators at first grade or junior games can respect a referee’s decision while also understanding that it’s ‘just a game’, and there is no issue. 

However I do not agree that half the crowd resents the referee just for ‘doing their best.’ 

The problem in first grade is that their best is not good enough. 

Week after week they make extremely poor decisions and there is no accountability whatsoever. 

I don’t know if it’s the referee’s being not fit enough, or lacking knowledge of the rules, or even the NRL’s fault for changing the rules frequently. 

Generally spectators will accept 50/50 decisions going against, even crucial ones, when they’re made in the ‘heat of the moment’ for e.g. State of Origin. 

Yes, they will boo, jeer, and be disappointed – that’s normal. 

But as a Newcastle Knights fan, I presume that these dud calls usually even themselves out over the season – take the English Premier League for example. 

But in the NRL, there are constant terrible decisions being made. 

The understanding is not there anymore because the referees are now embracing technology and the use of the video referee too much. 

I get that being a referee can be hard - I did three years of refereeing taking control of some high profile soccer games on the north shore in Sydney, at just 14 years old. 

Realistically, if you perform badly at your job, you’d be called in and asked to explain.

This is the analogy I am drawing. 

The ‘heat of the moment’ cliché is becoming lesser relevant. 

Yes, poor decisions are made, and we all watch it and accept it. 

The coaches and managers might complain, but they move on, as do the rest of us fans. 

But the NRL is a whole new level. 

If your woeful in the English Premier League, arguably the most watched sporting league in the world, you will get dropped - but not in the NRL.

Perhaps NRL higher officials, media, and spectators should try watch an English Super League game where there is the rare occasion of abuse of referee’s or media assassination of referee rulings. 

A referee should be a referee because they love the sport – not because he or she is a self-righteous sort of person who likes to tick people off. 

Let us let referees enjoy the sport as a fan and let their knowledge and experience of the game referee for them. 

The pressure comes from the employers more than not. 

There are so many technicalities to each and every rule that no one’s interpretation is the same. 

Consistency is literally impossible for this reason. 

As for the video referee, I can barely comment anything positive to say on the subject. 

At the end of the day these blokes are set up to fail. 

Let’s go back to the Reynolds and Graham incident. 

If NRL referees are suddenly telling us that players can’t attempt a charge down to win the game for their team that will do me. 

There was absolutely no malice intended from the Bulldogs captain regardless of injury to the player - and I will remind you that it is a contact sport. 

Graham wasn’t going for a contact tackle, or even trying to make contact. 

I see it purely as an accident at a charge down. 

We see charge downs all the time that go for the man and the ball, but this was not one. 

Can we worry about punishing the players who do things like punching and lifting in tackles where they actually mean it? 

The fact is that the rules of the game are so complicated that they blanket these kinds of things instead of clearly looking at the incident at hand.

One of Rugby League’s biggest issues is over-officiating, and it has been for years.

EPL: Top four final push

The rat race for the all-important top-four places in the English Premier League is well and truly on after Manchester City and Arsenal were eliminated midweek from the Round of 16 stages in the UEFA Champions League. 

That leaves no English teams left in the competition after Chelsea lost their tie to French giants Paris-Saint Germain while Liverpool suffered defeat to Turkish side Besiktas in the Round of 32 Europa League. 

This means full attention will now be drawn to the domestic competitions which for all, except Arsenal and Liverpool in the FA Cup, is the Premier League. 

To their own fault Manchester City have now included themselves in the cluster at the top of the league consisting of six teams: Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Southampton, and Tottenham Hotspurs.

Only weeks ago City were closing in on Chelsea at the summit after the west London side endured a few mishaps which were not capitalised by Manuel Pellegrini’s side from Manchester, who now find themselves in a top-six horse race in a short space of time. 

But in professional football there is no time to ponder on current agonies and heartbreak as teams bring all their focus to the final eight fixtures in the League this weekend. 

The 'Big Four' is no longer a thing.

RUN-IN

Manchester City – West Brom (h), Crystal Palace (a), Man Utd (a), West Ham (h), Aston Villa (h), Spurs (a), QPR (h), Swansea (a)

In all their latest calamities that include an away defeat to relegation battlers Burnley and a 1-0 loss to Barcelona yesterday morning, I still cannot see last year’s champions dropping out of the top-four. 

With no major injuries to their squad Man City will be in full throttle for the final stretch and I see them putting on at least one more charge towards leaders Chelsea for the title crown. 

Prediction – 2nd

Arsenal – Newcastle (a), Liverpool (h), Burnley (a), Chelsea (h), Hull (a), Swansea (h), Man Utd (a), West Brom (h)

Arsenal has won their last six games in all competitions and, like Man City, is near to having a full squad of players at their disposal. 

With their FA Cup semi-final match at Wembley on a separate weekend to the Premier League, I do not see the Gunners having any trouble staying in the top-four. 

Arsene Wenger knows all too well how to handle the pressures of top-four and Champions League qualification as he successfully has done for the last 17 seasons. 

Prediction – 3rd

Manchester United – Liverpool (a), Aston Villa (h), Man City (h), Chelsea (a), Everton (a), West Brom (h), Crystal Palace (a), Arsenal (h), Hull (a)

If Louis van Gaal’s side can hold onto fourth spot or better with arguably the toughest run of fixtures of the six teams then hats off to the Dutchman. 

For me, with still having to play Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, and Arsenal decreases the Red Devils chances dramatically. 

But if last week’s 3-0 win against Spurs was anything to go by then I think United will create have huge effect on the title race. 

Prediction – 4th

Liverpool – Man Utd (h), Arsenal (a), Newcastle (h), Hull (a), West Brom (a), QPR (h), Chelsea (a), Crystal Palace (h), Stoke (a)

To their credit the Reds have not lost a Premier League game in 2015 making them the in-form team in the league. 

Unfortunately all good things do eventually come to an end and I think this will be applied to Brendan Roger’s side as early as this weekend. 

As with Arsenal, anything less than the FA Cup and top-four qualification will be deemed as failure for the season.  
Prediction – 5th

Southampton – Burnley (h), Everton (a), Hull (h), Stoke (a), Spurs (h), Sunderland (a), Leicester (a), Aston Villa (h), Man City (a)

Ronald Koeman’s side showed so much promise at the beginning of the season but have vividly faded since the New Year. 

With a more favourable set of fixtures I believe the Saints will still be able to mount plenty of pressure on the teams above, and perhaps snatch a top-four berth with a bit of luck. 

But they will also be relying on Italian international and leading goal scorer striker Graziano Pelle rediscovering his wonderful early season form.  
Prediction – 7^th

Tottenham – Leicester (h), Burnley (a), Aston Villa (h), Newcastle (a), Southampton (a), Man City (h), Stoke (a), Hull (h), Everton (a)

Of the six, Spurs look to have the most comfortable set of matches left to play. 

But two-time EPL Player of the Month Harry Kane has not bagged a goal for his side in nearly four weeks since a 90^th minute equaliser against West Ham. 

Kane and playmaker Christian Eriksen will have to be on song for the rest of the season particularly against the sides that will be fighting for their lives at the rear-end of the league.
Prediction – 6^th

 

Top-six prediction - Chelsea 1^st, Manchester City 2^nd, Arsenal 3^rd, Manchester United 4^th, Liverpool 5^th, Spurs 6^th, Southampton 7^th

NRL: What we've learnt after Round 3

After three rounds in the NRL, observers of the sport will have been able to take note of a number of talking points. 

Some might come under the ‘surprise package’ category and some may just be standard news, and hopefully I can highlight a few from both sides.

Firstly, there is no doubt the South Sydney Rabbitohs have picked up from where they were last season. 

Personally, I did not think that they would be so strong in the early rounds after recent history has shown that returning champions have usually slumped off to a slow-start to the season. 

I am glad to have been proven wrong on this one.

My team Newcastle Knights find themselves in a not-so-used second position. 

For me, the Knights are playing rather good footy but have also been riding a bit of luck with some key decisions falling in their favour, particularly last week against Gold Coast Titans. 

In all honesty, I am just waiting for them to slip up starting this week against third placed Penrith Panthers. 

But for now, I am going to enjoy the ride while I can.

I have tipped Panthers to take out the minor premiership, in one of the few tipping competitions I’m involved in, and I think the tip is looking good so far. 

After an opening round win to Bulldogs, an emphatic 40-0 win over Titans, and a controversial loss to Roosters, the Penrith side has done enough to convince me as strong runners after tough fixtures to start the 2015 season.

Melbourne Storm will always be a top eight side with the super trio of Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk, and hitting form hook Cameron Smith. 

They may have suffered a close defeat at Brookvale two weeks ago but they will still be around come September.

Sydney Roosters are simply a quality side to be reckoned with this season and just about belong in the same category as Souths after the classic Sydney derby a couple weeks back. 

I was excited when I first saw the signing of Blake Ferguson back into the NRL and since has been a joy to watch - and hopefully a look-in for the mighty NSW Blues.

Des Hasler will be pleased with his Canterbury Bulldogs sides first few rounds in exception to the loss of five-eighth Josh Reynolds. 

But to the surprise of most, 21-year-old fill-in Moses Mbye has been a revelation. 

To go and win at a venue like Brookvale where the Sea Eagles only lost once last season is a big sign of a quality side.

New Zealand Warriors continue to hold the hot-and-cold label going into the fourth round. 

In round one, anyone who disagrees with the fact that they only had themselves to blame for the loss against Knights are kidding themselves. 

Since that defeat they are two from two, although expected, and will be tested against Brisbane Broncos at home this week.

West Tigers are punching above its position they currently sit in the table but the clash against the Bulldogs tonight will answer more questions about this sides premiership credentials. 

I am not going to write them off yet but it is hard to judge off a last-minute winner against a depleted Titans team, a scrappy win against Dragons, and a projected loss against Souths.

For the rest of the pack, I can only potentially see Sea Eagles, North Queensland Cowboys, and perhaps Broncos making a push for the top eight. 

The loss of leading try scorer Semi Radradra through to round 10 is the only reason I am discounting Parramatta Eels at this stage. 

Sea Eagles welcome the return of five-eight Kieran Foran and Jamie Lyon and I expect them to be back to near best with all the playing contractual issues pushed aside.

Why the NRL needs a transfer window

Manly halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran futures are up in the air

The recent announcements made on the futures of Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran are clear and typical examples of why the National Rugby League needs a designated transfer window for player trades and dealings.

Cherry-Evans told his teammates of tying the knot with the Gold Coast Titans virtually straight after his side’s emphatic defeat to the Parramatta Eels on Friday night.

Foran’s news of joining the Parramatta Eels on the other hand was leaked out to the media on Wednesday night.

I can only feel for Sea Eagles coach Geoff Toovey, who was in the middle of making an appearance on Fox Sport’s program NRL 360 when he heard the news of his second superstar departing his club.

I still don’t understand why we see in the modern day players being able to freely sign with other clubs during the regular season. 

I couldn’t think of a bigger interruption, let alone frustration, into match preparations and the overall team chemistry from a coach and fans point of view.

The league should not allow this. Why not adapt a similar system to that of the Australian Football League [AFL] and National Football League [NFL] in America that seems to be a far more reasonable scheme. 

In other words, wait until the end of the season to do your business. It’s pretty simple, surely.

As an avid fan of the English Premier League football competition in England, I find the structure and format of the top European competitions transfer windows in summer to be a great template that could be used for the NRL.

Let players have the right to renew their contracts with their current clubs at any time of the year. 

But once the season starts a line needs to be drawn.

I understand where the players are coming from as in they would prefer to know, rather than risk, if they have a job next year in their profession. 

Because let’s face it, I would too.

 

But how hard can it be for our NRL players to get their playing futures sorted by their agents or managers in the space of one year – surely that’s what they are paid to do?

If a suitable NRL trade system is not to be introduced soon rather than later then fans, coaches, and more importantly players are continually going to be losing.

Words such as disappointment, devastation, anger, and shock are emotions that will be felt by all involved with their club when they repeatedly learn year after year that their superstar is off elsewhere when you’ve just completed the first competitive game of the season.

What could be worse? Scared players will talk with rival codes and void their contract at any time.

There needs to be a legally binding code-crossing contract. 

But due to the pride of the NRL of course, they will never agree to that.

Players want to know where and if they can still get work at the same or a different club in the future. 

It is granted the start of the season isn’t exactly the best time for players to announce their own decisions.

But let’s be realistic here. 

If someone offered you better money to do the same job, you would take it as soon as possible no matter how long you had left on your outstanding contract. 

That is sadly what the NRL is still allowing players to do.

The Guide to World Cup Glory

Published on July 2014 by 'The Sports Report' - Australia's Free Independent Online Sports Magazine

Click here for the rundowns of Groups C, D, E, F, G and H!