Referee for Friday

[Owd Codger]

James Child has been appointed to take charge of the Halifax v Featherstone Rovers game in the Championship.

I wonder why?

Although that's actually a more significant game than any being played in Super League this weekend

If it is so significant, surely they would have appointed a better Referee!

[markill]

James Child has been appointed to take charge of the Halifax v Featherstone Rovers game in the Championship.

I wonder why?

Although that's actually a more significant game than any being played in Super League this weekend

If it is so significant, surely they would have appointed a better Referee!

Child made one major mistake on Friday in my eyes. Not sin binning Moore for the pull back on Smith. Us Wigan fans got enraged by that given the cards to us and that made us pick on every minor error that as a human being the guy is going to make. I think he's an unfairly treated referee by the fans. I see absolutely nothing in his general refereeing style that's different this new group, but because he's been around longer he's shit and the new ones are fine. It's just simply not true. They've given it to a referee who can handle the pressure, and Child has shown he can. After making two correct calls to sin bin Wigan players and one incorrect call not to sin bin a Wakefield player he knew the reaction he'd have to deal with for sending off O'Loughlin and he still correctly did that. Some strength of character there I'd say.

[keptinthedarkfans]

Although that's actually a more significant game than any being played in Super League this weekend

If it is so significant, surely they would have appointed a better Referee!

Child made one major mistake on Friday in my eyes. Not sin binning Moore for the pull back on Smith. Us Wigan fans got enraged by that given the cards to us and that made us pick on every minor error that as a human being the guy is going to make. I think he's an unfairly treated referee by the fans. I see absolutely nothing in his general refereeing style that's different this new group, but because he's been around longer he's shit and the new ones are fine. It's just simply not true. They've given it to a referee who can handle the pressure, and Child has shown he can. After making two correct calls to sin bin Wigan players and one incorrect call not to sin bin a Wakefield player he knew the reaction he'd have to deal with for sending off O'Loughlin and he still correctly did that. Some strength of character there I'd say.

Mark your having a laugh right. Look through all my posts and NEVER have I slagged of a ref because they do a job I would not do. But on Friday I saw one of the worst displays of reffing in all the time of watching wigan (55 years). He lost total control of game (if he had any in first place) Was totaly blinkered to the point of biased.And at one point linesmen where running game for him and making discisions.He created a powder keg through his reffing that at times boiled to a level that could have seen game stopped imo.Your posts generaly are well balanced views but sorry this time your miles off the mark.(no pun intended)

[TrueBlueWarrior]

markill is renowned for defending officials and he is entitled to do that, however Child's was awful Friday and I have every right to say that.

One thing about markill is he is always respectful and knows his stuff which I respect completely, whether I agree or not.

[markill]

If it is so significant, surely they would have appointed a better Referee!

Child made one major mistake on Friday in my eyes. Not sin binning Moore for the pull back on Smith. Us Wigan fans got enraged by that given the cards to us and that made us pick on every minor error that as a human being the guy is going to make. I think he's an unfairly treated referee by the fans. I see absolutely nothing in his general refereeing style that's different this new group, but because he's been around longer he's shit and the new ones are fine. It's just simply not true. They've given it to a referee who can handle the pressure, and Child has shown he can. After making two correct calls to sin bin Wigan players and one incorrect call not to sin bin a Wakefield player he knew the reaction he'd have to deal with for sending off O'Loughlin and he still correctly did that. Some strength of character there I'd say.

Mark your having a laugh right. Look through all my posts and NEVER have I slagged of a ref because they do a job I would not do. But on Friday I saw one of the worst displays of reffing in all the time of watching wigan (55 years). He lost total control of game (if he had any in first place) Was totaly blinkered to the point of biased.And at one point linesmen where running game for him and making discisions.He created a powder keg through his reffing that at times boiled to a level that could have seen game stopped imo.Your posts generaly are well balanced views but sorry this time your miles off the mark.(no pun intended)

I should qualify myself a little because I haven't put this in the right context. I Don't think Child's performance was as good as I would want form officials in the area of having control of the game - I agree with that point and I've said similar on another thread. I'm not sure though that is a Child specific problem, and in fact I think it must be an issue in how the refs are trained and developed.

An added issue for Child (and Cobb and Roby for that matter) is I don't think they get the respect they deserve for doing the job they do, I think this is often to do with their lack of physical stature. I don't think it is his fault, but it makes it harder for him to force his authority on players if they aren't going to respect it. Anyhow, I digress...

In this case I just think he didn't lay down the law early enough on what was going on at the ruck and that was where player frustrations bubbled up from. He was the same for both teams though, and it was our player Manfredi who was first to act out (correct call but from where most Wigan fans sit they wouldn't have had a great view, I didn't and I sit half way line, two-third up in Boston stand and I couldn't see what he'd done). Then, if I remember right, came his one major mistake (Moore on Smith) before Charnley saw yellow for a very similar offence, probably rightly so although I think he was a little harshly dealt with. From that point the ref had no chance with our crowd (me included at the time, I get a real bad case or terrace Tourette's at the games then try to be more considered after). Even if he had kept Lockers on, we'd have thought he was against us all game.

Genuinely I don't think it was a biased performance - we're obviously the more biased ones, and any bias we see in a ref is probably more a reflection of the bias I us than the bias in them. I think it could and should have been better ref performance, but he made more correct big calls than incorrect ones, and that in the end didn't have an impact on the result. I also think that other refs may not have made some of the calls Child dared to make that were in the end correct, even if they're against us and not for us. We should never criticise a referee for getting something right, even if he's just got something wrong beforehand - that's what I think anyway. Of course, its harder to feel that way at the game but when you sit back later on it gets easier.

On your TJ point, I don't think that is weak refereeing, I would commend a referee for using information given to them by their other officials as part of the decision making process. It helps them make better, more informed decisions.

p.s. TBW, I didn't know I was renowned for anything so thanks! Haha.

[TrueBlueWarrior]

I could think of far worse things to be renowned for markill!!

[Owd Codger]

Like I have said before, the worse display of blatant one sided refereeing in the many years, I have supported the game.

When you get the amount of booing to the extent that occur last Friday Night, it tells you that something was wrong with his handling of the game.

As far as I am concerned, he not only ruined the game, but his decisions had a bearing on the scoreline prior to the Tierney try in the last minute.

If I had anything to do with it, he would be demoted to the Championship for the rest of the season.