fLIP
UFO Hunter
By Phil Rothfield
It'S wrong to blame the current crop of referees for the crisis that has now engulfed the NRL.
We knew long before Parramatta skipper Nathan Cayless was sin-binned on Sunday afternoon that coaches, players, commentators and fans had lost all confidence in the whistleblowers.
We knew long before Manly got robbed by a six-metre forward pass against Parramatta in round two that the referees were not up to scratch.
We even knew long before the Bulldogs got dudded by video referee Steve Clark against the Dragons at Kogarah last year that the game had massive issues with refereeing.
This has been going on for years but we can't just blame Maxwell, Klein, Bernard Sutton, Archer, Robinson, Lyons, Cecchin, Badger, Suttor or Cummins and Gerard Sutton, the two who stuffed up on Sunday.
I blame David Gallop, Robert Finch and Bill Harrigan. Finch, because he's the man in charge, Harrigan because he's their coach, and Gallop, because he won't do anything about it.
I will always admire Gallop's loyalty to his staff, but I'd suggest he should jump on to The Daily Telegraph website to find out what the lifeblood of the game - the fans - really think about the standard of refereeing.
I've done well over 100 blogs on different rugby league issues over the past two seasons and never before has there been such an overwhelming agreement that the NRL needs to take urgent action about a problem that is so obvious to everyone but themselves.
Finch has been in charge long enough. His biggest problem is that he can't recognise there is a problem. He has to go and his job needs to be advertised and handled by a recruitment agency.
And now to Bill Harrigan ... unquestionably one of the most arrogant human beings I've ever met in rugby league. Bill is the referees coach and the trouble is, he wants them all to referee like he did.
Bill was a great referee in his day, particularly at the back end of his career when he enjoyed the respect and support of all the players. He could get away with things other referees couldn't because he had a big scrapbook and the runs on the board.
He's now coaching the current referees to speak to players the same way as he did and we're finding rookie refs not even allowing players of Cameron Smith's standing to seek on-field explanations for some of the abysmal decisions that are made.
The bottom line is that fans have had enough. The Bulldogs lost $100,000 prizemoney - and the minor premiership - from Steve Clark's blunder last year.
Manly could miss out on the top two or the top four in the finals this year because Parramatta scored a try off a forward pass that cost them the game. It could also cost them a premiership. Who knows?
The old argument that these bad decisions "even out" over the length of the season is no longer acceptable in a professional game where so much help is available through technology.
It's time to blow the whistle on Finch and Harrigan - and don't even bother going upstairs.
It'S wrong to blame the current crop of referees for the crisis that has now engulfed the NRL.
We knew long before Parramatta skipper Nathan Cayless was sin-binned on Sunday afternoon that coaches, players, commentators and fans had lost all confidence in the whistleblowers.
We knew long before Manly got robbed by a six-metre forward pass against Parramatta in round two that the referees were not up to scratch.
We even knew long before the Bulldogs got dudded by video referee Steve Clark against the Dragons at Kogarah last year that the game had massive issues with refereeing.
This has been going on for years but we can't just blame Maxwell, Klein, Bernard Sutton, Archer, Robinson, Lyons, Cecchin, Badger, Suttor or Cummins and Gerard Sutton, the two who stuffed up on Sunday.
I blame David Gallop, Robert Finch and Bill Harrigan. Finch, because he's the man in charge, Harrigan because he's their coach, and Gallop, because he won't do anything about it.
I will always admire Gallop's loyalty to his staff, but I'd suggest he should jump on to The Daily Telegraph website to find out what the lifeblood of the game - the fans - really think about the standard of refereeing.
I've done well over 100 blogs on different rugby league issues over the past two seasons and never before has there been such an overwhelming agreement that the NRL needs to take urgent action about a problem that is so obvious to everyone but themselves.
Finch has been in charge long enough. His biggest problem is that he can't recognise there is a problem. He has to go and his job needs to be advertised and handled by a recruitment agency.
And now to Bill Harrigan ... unquestionably one of the most arrogant human beings I've ever met in rugby league. Bill is the referees coach and the trouble is, he wants them all to referee like he did.
Bill was a great referee in his day, particularly at the back end of his career when he enjoyed the respect and support of all the players. He could get away with things other referees couldn't because he had a big scrapbook and the runs on the board.
He's now coaching the current referees to speak to players the same way as he did and we're finding rookie refs not even allowing players of Cameron Smith's standing to seek on-field explanations for some of the abysmal decisions that are made.
The bottom line is that fans have had enough. The Bulldogs lost $100,000 prizemoney - and the minor premiership - from Steve Clark's blunder last year.
Manly could miss out on the top two or the top four in the finals this year because Parramatta scored a try off a forward pass that cost them the game. It could also cost them a premiership. Who knows?
The old argument that these bad decisions "even out" over the length of the season is no longer acceptable in a professional game where so much help is available through technology.
It's time to blow the whistle on Finch and Harrigan - and don't even bother going upstairs.
