World Club Challenge

[cyberpieman]

not having the benefit of live action & listening to 5 Live X for my fix (I refuse to pay that slimy Oz tw.t of a dynastic fascist corporation any of my hard earned dosh) I can only comment on what I heard.

To be fair, Klien did good in the second half, but he still referred stuff upstairs instaid of having the balls to call it himself.

I DO NOT rate Klein as "the best" ref in SL, many are worse, few are better, but (to be a math geek for a second) the mode is skewed towards the lower percentile and "best" in this respect is to be the top of a very mediocre pile.


(did I mention inconsistent and splineless refs are a pet hate, guaranteed to raise my blood pressure?!)

[robjoenz]

I think it was a waste of time Rob, also inconsistansy with kick chase as a few late hits going in after the kick and he only saw one. Though one of the TJ had a great game but the other seemed to miss thing happening only a few feet from him.

Why? It was a close call and as Stevo says "if the technology's there then use it." I don't see the issue... they got the right decision.

I thought the challenges on kickers that he penalised were correct. I also thought the ones he didn't penalise were correct. The hit on Maguire wasn't late and wasn't high so shouldn't have been penalised. There were several like that. The one on Burrow was marginal, Lima (I think) jumped towards Burrow after the ball had gone but did not make any real contact so he was penalised for intent.

It's extremely difficult to tell what input a TJ gives without hearing the DVD with match officials input. At the end of the day, it's up to the referee to decide which information to use. Admittedly, I have to summise what input they gave Ash (e.g. delay between a forward pass and whistle indicates the TJ gave the call) but I thought the game was controlled well between all match officials. A couple of times in the first half I thought that Melbourne were treading a tight rope, the main difference between them and Leeds though was that when Ash shouted "move" or "stand" they did do where Leeds pushed their luck a little too far. I also thought Leeds surrendered to the tackle a lot more hence giving Melbourne more time to stabilise the tackle which the Leeds fans could not appreciate.

[robjoenz]

It's not dirty Rob but its every tackle virtually. There is so much emphasis on slowing play down that to be honest I do not think the players even tackle in the true sense of the word. Nobdoy bends their back or goes low. It's all aborb the runner, lock the ball, get tea mates in, twist the ball carriers leg, dance with the ball carrier, roll on him, spoil, spoil.

Oh, I agree, it's all about setting the defence before the side in possession has time to play the ball and if it can't be done legally spoiling tactics are used. This is why Castleford have been penalised so heavily in the first few rounds. SL is so much quicker than NL1 and to be able to defend to keep in a game they need to spoil. That's why they gave away twice the penalties Wigan did the other week when they played. I also think it's why there was a lot of messing about, because Ian Smith didn't want to kill the game with penalties every 30 seconds.

I don't see what is wrong with stabilising the player before the tackle is complete and slowing the game legally though. I appreciate a good tackle and good technique where the ball carrier is placed on his back facing the wrong way before coming to rest.

We have got that because we have always been prepared to accept the concept of the tackler making contact lower and riding up on impact. When a player is 6ft minimum in 90% of cases why do we encourage/accept challenges to the last 1ft. They have 5ft to go at.

To lock the ball and prevent second phase play which is what breaks down defences.

I do think if we are not careful we end up with a dour game. Saints killed Bradford with it last week. Tonight 2 teams doing exactly the same and cancelling each other out. I thought Slater was great, I enjoyed Kronks kicking but beyond that the players were athletes/strongmen with little or no rugby. At one point, leeds had no centres, yet Melbourne never attacked that weakness. In the first half with Leeds having no defenders out wide, the guy goes from acting half.

It did frustrate me a little that Melbourne didn't attack Leeds weeknesses. For example, very early on they decided to try and drive over under the sticks instead of spreading it out where Leeds were all over the place. Still, I enjoyed the game.

[cpwigan]

To lock the ball and prevent second phase play which is what breaks down defences

Exactly Rob. Should those responsible for the game not be encouraging attacking RL? I think they should and if that is the case then you make the rules favour that aspect of the game. As it stands, officials are powerless because the will above them at all levels of RFL does not exist to support them. The best the official can do is minimise the effects of the cheating.

An aside. As you say, Cas need to cheat more and are penalised more heavily. Why then did the RFL stand back and allow Matterson to attack the official publicly post match. What message does that send out? He should have been dragged over the coals at Red Hall and Richard Lewis and co should have rebuked him publicly and supported the official.

[turf]

Highland Convert Posted:

Was the best reffing I had seen for a while. Game flowed. In horrendous condition Klien held it together when things flaired up. Could have destroyed the game. Seen more penalties in the first ten minutes of some matches. Well done Klien, HC

I 100% agree with you highland convert!!

Well done Ashley Klein!! :eusa2: :eusa2:

[First Try Tickle]

worst player on the pitch: Ashley Klein

What did you think was bad about his performance?

if you still have it on video or sky+ watch the offside everytime the whinos did a big hit.

If ypu pause when the play the ball was done, leeds at times where 5 yards in front of KK, hes so biased. But when Melbourne did it he pulled them.

I wanted Leeds to win but imwas embarrassed at times.

He's a SL ref, helping a SL team playing in a SL country....

[robjoenz]

To lock the ball and prevent second phase play which is what breaks down defences

Exactly Rob. Should those responsible for the game not be encouraging attacking RL? I think they should and if that is the case then you make the rules favour that aspect of the game. As it stands, officials are powerless because the will above them at all levels of RFL does not exist to support them. The best the official can do is minimise the effects of the cheating.

What rule change do you suggest?

An aside. As you say, Cas need to cheat more and are penalised more heavily. Why then did the RFL stand back and allow Matterson to attack the official publicly post match. What message does that send out? He should have been dragged over the coals at Red Hall and Richard Lewis and co should have rebuked him publicly and supported the official.

Why? The referee is very often the scapegoat. What does he gain from his little rant?

[butt monkey]

Another key Leeds' tactic, is to raise themselves up at the play the ball with "full" weight placed on the ball as they do so. This causes a spectacular "roll-forward" that often earns them penalties for "interference" from gullable referees!!!!!

[GeoffN]

What rule change do you suggest?

Calling "held" earlier?

[platt-warrior]

I wholehartedly agree with cpwigan re: tackling.I pay my money to see a good hard RUGBY match where players are tackled fair and square.One up, one down is perfectly acceptable if done in the correct manner ie around the ankles and chest not the nuts and neck. If we carry on like this some player will get badly hurt!