Is Super League Rigged?

[Dave-C]

So I'll put it out there. And the main thing which supports this is Tony Clubs try......or not a try....

Blatantly even on video ref, Hull players arm definitely on the ball and definitely making a backward movement pulling the ball out. No doubt by anyone, even by Radford...

We've always said about referees being blatantly biased and making decisions which are obviously wrong and there could be no doubt other ways, then the question is why these decisions? It's already established that these must be deliberate.

Theories..stop Wigan dominating trophies, make SL more appealing to fans?? My thoughts on Leeds doing the treble were that it was setup in an attempt to bring SL to the forefront. Especially seems with the stupid down under trips proposed is that SL will try almost anything to establish itself.

Do referees take backhanders? Do referees get told by the RFL? Has anyone got visibility of what is in a referees contract?

The only reason I put this here is I was born and bred in Wigan. Every other sport I have ever watched has either been rigged, setup or full of drug abusers (cycling, track and field etc etc). How far does it go?

Thoughts?

[Alex the Warrior]

I've fallen out with Rugby League over the years. Partly this salary cap nonsense and the resulting drop in standards but also because I agree with your main point.

Winning the semi-final against Salford was tough enough given what appeared to be a strong wish to get a team to the first final in nearly 50 years. As one Leigh fan said on the BBC 'I hate Wigan but that refereeing made me switch off'

Don't start me on the refereeing in the GF against Leeds.

They certainly seem to like a 'romantic' story and I think of seasons in the last decade or so where Catalans then Hull KR were helped to high league finishes or they wanted Kevin Sinfield to finish laden with trophies.

Today I thought Wigan played poorly, especially allowing the 40-20 and the score in the corner for what turned out to be the winning try but the clear truth is that when the video ref was called on he got it wrong and spoke as if he wanted to ignore the very thing he was meant to be looking for.

I saw it differently from you Dave. I thought the man reaching over didn't pull the ball out (the video ref was talking about that) but at no time did he talk about looking at the man under the ball pushing it out. In my view that is what he did.

[Wandering Warrior]

You can't beat a good conspiracy theory when everything turns to rat biz?
Look to reality!

[medlocke]

Don't think it's fixed, but reckon the rfl deffo interfere during games, the odd whisper in the ear of the ref/video ref etc, there's deffo something dodgy going on even if it's just on a minuscule scale

[Kiwiseddon]

It's not as black and white as it's rigged or not. But as Medlocke said, quiet words behind closed doors might get said. There are two very obvious video ref cals recently against Wigan. Club's try yesterday and a decision made against us by Thaler where he was saying "there's no clear evidence to overrule." He said it three or four times and then overruled???
I think the way the video ref is run doesn't work. RU takes a much more pragmatic approach and while it can be a bit sluggish, more often than not, the correct decisions are made. Look at SBW's sending off against the Lions. Not seen on the field but the TMO called it completely correctly and that changed the whole series.

[Caboosegg]

don't know about rigged but you got to question the clubb decision.

i was at the match but my wife said they even have Lee Radford voice on mic saying its a try from his seat during the match?

would we of won? who knows Hulls attack was miles above our but our defence (bar poor Marshall) was brilliant.

the point though is Refs should not be having such a major impact on game outcomes with wrong calls.

[fozzieskem]

Not rigged hells teeth the better team won simple as that.

Do away with the video ref I hate that give the responsibility to the lad on the field I'm sick of waiting for endless time for a decision that should just be given rightly or wrongly,human error is a great thing.

The Clubb try was a bit strange to say the least but because it went up it compounded the issue if Bentham had no option but to say what he saw we would be livid but not coming up with X files theories.

[thegimble]

Its not rigged its just over officiated and video ref is really a waste of time in its present guise. Clubb was a try all day long RFL need to demote Child down 2 leagues as punishment but they will not. Ref only words to the video ref should be is that a try yes or no.

If this was HKR losing like that you can bet their owner would be in the press slagging off the officials. And would take the fine and smile.

Unions way is far superior and 99% of the time gets the right decision.

[Billgreenwoodsson]

I agree entirely. Does no one in RL admin take any responsibility for explaining to fans what the hell is going on? If I had made a public statement along the lines of "I can see no reason to over rule this decision" and then repeated it 3 times before then over ruling my boss would quite rightly DEMAND an explanation. I am sorry Mr Child but if you saw no evidence of a ball steal then you are clearly not up to the job. Or, at the very least , please explain the decision you took!!!
The Video ref idea is a laughable farce. Get rid. NOW before we kill the game.

[medlocke]

Get rid of video ref but keep the big screen, just use it so the on field ref can see a replay of what's happened so he can make the right decision rather than the usual arsing about