Silverwood briefing reveals transparency

[josie andrews]

Referees have to be thick-skinned and Richard Silverwood demonstrated bravery of a different kind today when he allowed his performances to be dissected in front of the media.

Tackles such as chicken wings, crocodile rolls and cannonballs were on the menu at a Rugby Football League media briefing as the governing body demonstrated the transparency of their disciplinary procedures.

The RFL laid bare the whole process, from applying on-field discipline through to the match-review system and the weekly disciplinary hearings at an illuminating presentation at their Red Hall headquarters.

The complete system was revamped at the start of the 2011 season and refined this year with the introduction of the early-guilty plea and the aid of further technological advances.

The outcome, according to match officials director Stuart Cummings, has been a marked improvement in discipline, demonstrated by facts which point to just 28 players being charged so far at the halfway of the Stobart Super League season, compared to 67 for the whole of the 2011 campaign.

That might suggest a reduction in the detection rate but scrutiny has never been more meticulous, with a host of high-definition cameras ensuring the Super League players have no place to hide.

The RFL’s technical co-ordinator Jon Sharp, the former head coach of Huddersfield Giants who now leads the match-review panel, reckons each panellist spends three to four hours poring over footage from the weekend’s Super League matches.

Those panellists include former Great Britain international Paul Dixon and ex-referee and player Steve Presley.

And compliance manager Graeme Sarjeant reveals it takes between five and eight hours for the panel to reach all their verdicts before handing over the cases to a disciplinary committee.

Peter Charlesworth, one of four sitting or retired high court judges who chair the weekly hearings, provided an outline of the mechanics involved, including those in the recent case involving Castleford Tigers’ Rangi Chase.

The judge is joined on the tribunal by former players drawn from a panel which includes Ikram Butt (Leeds Rhinos and Featherstone), Graham Hallas (Leeds and Halifax) and Wilf George (Huddersfield, Widnes Vikings and Halifax).

According to the statistics, Super League players received an average suspension of 1.4 matches in 2011, compared to 1.8 for those in the Championship, evidence the RFL claim dispels the theory that penalties handed out to part-time players are far more severe than to their full-time counterparts.

The governing body is particularly proud of the absence of any offences relating to fighting, with mass brawls in Super League at least seemingly confined to history.

Not that the referees are infallible. The statistics show they make an average of 3.5 errors in each game, which show they are human after all.

“We just hope they have no major effects in a game,” said Cummings, who revealed his eight full-time Super League referees know what it is like to be on the end of some foul play.

One of Sharp’s first tasks on his appointment at Red Hall was to conduct a training session on the wrestling techniques such as chicken wings the League are attempting - with success it must be admitted - to eradicate and the referees gained the bruises as a painful reminder.

http://www.therfl.co.uk/news/article/25 ... ansparency

[butt monkey]

The RFL’s technical co-ordinator Jon Sharp, the former head coach of Huddersfield Giants who now leads the match-review panel.

Those panellists include former Great Britain international Paul Dixon and ex-referee and player Steve Presley.

Peter Charlesworth, one of four sitting or retired high court judges.

The judge is joined on the tribunal by former players drawn from a panel which includes Ikram Butt (Leeds Rhinos and Featherstone), Graham Hallas (Leeds and Halifax) and Wilf George (Huddersfield, Widnes Vikings and Halifax).

WOW!!!!

And people who think there is a Yorkshire "bias" with the disciplinary find the real answer - there is. From the entire list of names used - they are all from Yorkshire :eusa17:

Hallas, Butt and Dixon all being ex-Leeds players to boot I just wonder at what point Gary Hetherington enters the proceedings

[butt monkey]

The Leeds' disciplinary board is working "well"