I’ve been a passing fan of league at best. I’ve followed the Warriors since day one, and before that was a default Manly fan (as most NZ was – or the Bulldogs).
Those who know me, I like the purity of sport and I hate the interpretation of refs and TV umpires. Watching the Warriors strange loss to the hapless and pathetic Rabbitohs, if I was a serious leaguie, I’d be pulling my hair out. Blimey I even managed to get worked up in that last 10 mins.
What I want to know is, why does league have Refs? In the last 8mins, I counted 4 knock ons that were either missed or called play on. From my experience with League, you only need to drop the ball (and in many cases backwards) and the ref calls knock on. But no not tonight, and the funniest one, was right at the end which went to the video ref and he concluded that the ball wasn’t knocked on, and that it was a Rabbitohs feed. WTF, are you blind and taking the piss, or are you just incompetent, or worse are you a cheating bastard who’s been paid off by an over paid ex-kiwi actor (if that’s what it’s called).
The ball was a long throw, it was touched by the Rabbitohs’ player, hit the kneed of the Warrior and then picked up by a Warrior in an offside position. So if it wasn’t a knock on (which it was) then it was a penalty to the Rabbitohs as the Warrior player was offside. That is beyond incomptent, and these people get paid for this. They’re not some weekend volunteer whom you can forgive the slight inability to understand the game. These people get paid to make the right call, and if you, me and the commentators saw that it was a knock on, how the hell didn’t the guy with the TV and the job as a ref?
Further the law about the scrums. Despite the silly tradition, the ball actually needs to be put into the scrum down the middle, not the back of the hookers feet on a 45°. Law section 12, 6a. But also the player is not allowed to jump into the scum and dive on the ball in a tackle situation. He’s not allowed in the bloody scrum at all, but the ref called play on and started the tackle count.
I’d hate to be a true League fan, as week in and week out the officials prove themselves to possibly be amongst the worst officials of the laws of any sport anywhere in the professional sporting world. And I don’t mean that lightly.
League laws are a joke (do a proper scrum or loose it, it just looks well …), but the officials who control the games are an even bigger joke.
Sorry League fans, it’s actually a good game to watch, just loose the bloody officials (and they get paid for it, seriously?).
Holly heck, loosing to the bottom team with 12 straight losses in a row, at home, what the hell’s with that Warriors?
