"All we want is a decent referee..."

[Fraggle]

Curious to note that, albeit with one fixture less than usual, neither Russell Smith nor Steve Ganson will annoy any supporters this weekend.

Tonight there's Hull vs Cas (ref A.Klein, apparently from London), Skints vs Fax (P.Tabener of Wigan), Wakefield vs Leeds (R.Silverwood, Dewsbury). We've got Karl Kirk-prat-rick of Warrington, finally Widnes vs Wires will be reffed by the other Smith of Oldham.

Has Mr Scummings finally decided that Ranger Smith and Red-Card Ganson need time off to relearn the rules? Not before time in my opinion.

[OJ]

Give me Russell Smith anyday rather than Silverwood who we had last Friday

[AJ]

r smith may be the most experienced ref in SL but he is also the most prone to bias within any given game

take saints away last week, we didnt get a penalty look in till gone half time

all the SL refs are a joke

ganson being the biggest jester of them all

im not confident to hear karl k is reffin us @ odsal either, cause he is a ref who never penalises for offside

[wolftown warrior]

u know what though, even if we win or lose.. the refs are a joke.. & i don`t like to be a sore loser or blame anyone but ourselves for losing games.. but everytime u come out of a game or whatever u always seem to say.. that ref was a disgrace!

u expect errors, they are only human.. but A) they are paid proffesionals & should do they jobs as best & even as possible. & B)if they are on TV use the bloody video ref!
for more than just checking grounding offsides etc..
ref`s.. who`d be one heh? LOL

anyone know if u can pay on the door tonight? or you reakon it is already sold out? i know they get a fair few in down bradford. what with the free tickets & what not..
don`t ususally go to that many away games. cos i usually don`t know the way!
but i played at odsell when i was younger & still know my way to the place...

[MrsLam]

well talking of the ref tonight, im not gonna complain too much but why was lowes not sent off? How many times did he say "Next time i speak to you, you're off" He should have kept to that promise.
Well done lads anyway great match

[Fraggle]

nitsua posted:
To blame referee for any team losing is rather silly. Referees are, on the whole, unbiased and do their best. OK they make mistakes like anyone else, but the mistakes usually even out over a full game.

Russell Smith is by far the best and most experienced referee in SL by a country mile.

To be honest I wasn't even thinking about blaming the refs for a team winning or losing, but more people than usual this year have been complaining about the lack of consistency by officials and the amount of things they seem to miss. Mistakes are inevitable, they've got a very difficult job, and there's a lot to see, but there have been a lot of decisions in Wigan games this year which I've totally failed to understand. It's true that things even out during the match, but sometimes it would be nice to be able to focus more on the play and less on the referees.

I also think the new rule for this year whereby one touchjudge is supposed to line up with the defence instead of all 3 officials watching the PTB seems to be a total disaster. Occasionally one touchjudge remembers and is in position, sometimes both will set off towards the defence then stop as they don't seem to know whose turn it is, most of the time they don't bother at all. The referee still invents the offside rule anyway so it has no point at all.

[bankheyes]

Agree completely, Russell Smith is by far the best RL Ref in recent years.
It must hurt to be ruled by Scummings.

[bankheyes]

Agree about the arguing - and not just mouthy Lowe.
Karl Pratt looked as though he was going to attack the touch judge.
Bradford are still a very fine team, in spite of two home losses in a row.
They seem to get bigger every time I see them!