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[h=1]Canterbury Bulldogs great George Peponis says referee standards are driving fans crazy[/h]
George Peponis, one of Canterbury's favourite sons and NSWRL chairman, wants the Bulldogs supporters who hurled missiles at match officials after their team's Good Friday loss to South Sydney banned from attending football games for life but said the standard of refereeing over the last 18 months had left fans seething.
Peponis, who captained the Bulldogs and Australia in the 1970s and '80s and is the chairman of the Canterbury Leagues Club, stressed he does not condone the madness that followed full-time at ANZ Stadium but he figured the wild scenes proved fans have pent-up frustration with the current standard of referees and video refs.
"Everyone who threw a bottle should be banned for life," he said. "I don't condone it and my heartfelt sympathy goes out to the official [Darren Alchin] who fractured his scapula when he slipped over. I wish him a speedy and full recovery on behalf of all sincere Bulldogs supporters and NSWRL supporters and officials. But I think it highlights the supporters' frustration over this year, and the last 18 months, about the refereeing standard which is appalling – as far as I'm concerned.
'People are being absolutely frustrated': George Peponis Photo: Getty Images
"Not only that, I think the video referees are probably worse. I mean, how many times this year have [you asked yourself] 'are we seeing the same thing the video referee is seeing?' We see things and ask, 'how could they possibly rule that way?'"
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Peponis said his view of the refereeing standards do not apply to last Friday's match, in which Canterbury captain James Graham was widely condemned for the way in which he berated referee Gerard Sutton after he was penalised for cannoning into Rabbitoh's half-back Adam Reynolds' legs as he tried to kick a last-gasp field goal.
Peponis, who captained the 1980 grand final-winning Bulldogs, said while he believed Graham's collision with Reynolds was accidental, the penalty was warranted because he'd made contact with the kicker's legs.
"I'm not talking about [the refereeing performance in the Canterbury-South Sydney] game. Forget that game. But there were a few other games earlier in the year where we can highlight it and say 'well, that was a definite try, how could they rule it a no try'? I think people are being absolutely frustrated by the standard of, not only the referees, but, in particular, the video referees. [The video referees] have no excuse – they see what we see! How can they get it wrong?
"And [while] I think that frustrates the fans, what [James] Graham and [David] Klemmer did was unacceptable; I think what the fans did was totally unacceptable but I think the standard of refereeing is appalling, too."
Peponis said his views on the way in which the NRL has become bogged down by onfield officialdom was exasperated after he watched a game televised from England over the weekend.
"I watched Hull KR play and there was one referee, limited video refereeing and the game flowed," he said. "The crowd just went with whatever was called. Watch a game [in the NRL] your team scores a try, everyone wants to jump up and down [and celebrate] but they have to go to the video referee and all of a sudden the 40,000 people are deflated as they wait a minute-and-a-half for the video referee to go through 15 different angles of the same thing and when they finally make a call, if it's positive, the crowd is deflated because the moment has past."
One of the controversies to come out of the match was Josh Morris being placed on report for leading with his boot in trying to prevent Issac Luke from scoring.
Former leading referee Greg McCallum, who resigned last year after serving for a decade as chairman of the NRL's match review committee, said even though Morris had escaped an appearance before the judiciary it was likely he'd be warned not to lead with his feet again.
"With those dangerous contact charges you have to make contact with your foot [to be cited], just putting your foot there doesn't necessitate a charge," he said. "It's not a good look and the rule was changed in 2008 because some people were leading with their feet.
"Those boots make it very dangerous, if you were to make contact on the face [of an opponent] where there's very little protection for the player [the end result could be terrible]. I would imagine that the match review committee would be taking it up with [Canterbury]."
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...s-are-driving-fans-crazy-20150406-1mffw9.html
George Peponis, one of Canterbury's favourite sons and NSWRL chairman, wants the Bulldogs supporters who hurled missiles at match officials after their team's Good Friday loss to South Sydney banned from attending football games for life but said the standard of refereeing over the last 18 months had left fans seething.
Peponis, who captained the Bulldogs and Australia in the 1970s and '80s and is the chairman of the Canterbury Leagues Club, stressed he does not condone the madness that followed full-time at ANZ Stadium but he figured the wild scenes proved fans have pent-up frustration with the current standard of referees and video refs.
"Everyone who threw a bottle should be banned for life," he said. "I don't condone it and my heartfelt sympathy goes out to the official [Darren Alchin] who fractured his scapula when he slipped over. I wish him a speedy and full recovery on behalf of all sincere Bulldogs supporters and NSWRL supporters and officials. But I think it highlights the supporters' frustration over this year, and the last 18 months, about the refereeing standard which is appalling – as far as I'm concerned.
"Not only that, I think the video referees are probably worse. I mean, how many times this year have [you asked yourself] 'are we seeing the same thing the video referee is seeing?' We see things and ask, 'how could they possibly rule that way?'"
Advertisement
Peponis said his view of the refereeing standards do not apply to last Friday's match, in which Canterbury captain James Graham was widely condemned for the way in which he berated referee Gerard Sutton after he was penalised for cannoning into Rabbitoh's half-back Adam Reynolds' legs as he tried to kick a last-gasp field goal.
Peponis, who captained the 1980 grand final-winning Bulldogs, said while he believed Graham's collision with Reynolds was accidental, the penalty was warranted because he'd made contact with the kicker's legs.
"I'm not talking about [the refereeing performance in the Canterbury-South Sydney] game. Forget that game. But there were a few other games earlier in the year where we can highlight it and say 'well, that was a definite try, how could they rule it a no try'? I think people are being absolutely frustrated by the standard of, not only the referees, but, in particular, the video referees. [The video referees] have no excuse – they see what we see! How can they get it wrong?
"And [while] I think that frustrates the fans, what [James] Graham and [David] Klemmer did was unacceptable; I think what the fans did was totally unacceptable but I think the standard of refereeing is appalling, too."
Peponis said his views on the way in which the NRL has become bogged down by onfield officialdom was exasperated after he watched a game televised from England over the weekend.
"I watched Hull KR play and there was one referee, limited video refereeing and the game flowed," he said. "The crowd just went with whatever was called. Watch a game [in the NRL] your team scores a try, everyone wants to jump up and down [and celebrate] but they have to go to the video referee and all of a sudden the 40,000 people are deflated as they wait a minute-and-a-half for the video referee to go through 15 different angles of the same thing and when they finally make a call, if it's positive, the crowd is deflated because the moment has past."
One of the controversies to come out of the match was Josh Morris being placed on report for leading with his boot in trying to prevent Issac Luke from scoring.
Former leading referee Greg McCallum, who resigned last year after serving for a decade as chairman of the NRL's match review committee, said even though Morris had escaped an appearance before the judiciary it was likely he'd be warned not to lead with his feet again.
"With those dangerous contact charges you have to make contact with your foot [to be cited], just putting your foot there doesn't necessitate a charge," he said. "It's not a good look and the rule was changed in 2008 because some people were leading with their feet.
"Those boots make it very dangerous, if you were to make contact on the face [of an opponent] where there's very little protection for the player [the end result could be terrible]. I would imagine that the match review committee would be taking it up with [Canterbury]."
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...s-are-driving-fans-crazy-20150406-1mffw9.html
