MY RANT About the NRL

[Ecca]

So, where it is, my issue, it does not lie with the ATROCIOUS game the ref had when we played Souths on Friday, or the behaviour of the players or the fans, as I feel the issues run so much deeper than this. I believe the tensions that we are all feeling stem from the NRL making the decision in their infinite wisdom to ban the NRL club coaches from providing any feedback at all in relation the referees and the quality of their officiating thus far this year.


Now, bear with me on this one people, as I will get to my point. Lets start with the ban and its impact on me. So, my teams coach, much like other teams coaches have been banned from commenting. Well, I for one found it quite relieving when Des tore apart the quality of the officiating with his cool analytic review of the officiating at the post match press conference. Frankly I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the club I love is equally as frustrated about the same things I was. That is all gone now.


NOW, I get to see Des sit there tight lipped, and clearly frustrated, but what about??? well I will never know, and that is driving me crazy. Does the club feel the same as me? Were the decisions as bad as I thought? I don't know, so week after week I get angrier.


The players, well I am sure they are in a similar situation, where now they know there is NO public forum in which a club representative can comment on the quality of the people who have ultimately been a MAJOR influencing factor into MANY games already this year to the games detriment, Manly v Melbourne / Titans v Newcastle / Cowboys v Newcastle just to name a few. So, if they cannot be commented on after the game, and they are a protected species, so where can the players express their dissatisfaction??? on the field, and nowhere else. Thus we see the frustration explode like it did on Friday, and I can almost guarantee that this will not be the last time it happens either, and I think the NRL realises this too and as such the are coming down hard on James Graham as a result (Hopefully to scare off others).


I am NOT upset that the refs had a bad game and cost us a match, yes it is frustrating, but it happens and not only to us. I am however upset that the NRL has implemented this almost medieval approach to suppression, and this is heavily contributing to the events that happened this weekent and any similar incident that WILL occur this year.


I kind of think of it like this, fill up a water balloon tie it off and push down on it, this is the pressure exerted by the NRL, the resulting explosion in which we all get wet from is as a result of this pressure, but, the NRL instead of accepting any responsibilty for it blames the quality of the water balloon for not being strong enough.....


It is unacceptable.... Rant Over


(Sorry for the POOR analogy - not my strong suit)

 

[Slick]

there is a reason you only have six red thumbs

this is what the reason is

 

[Ecca]

there is a reason you only have six red thumbs

this is what the reason is

Cheers SLick (those 6 red thumbs haunt me by the way)

 

[Raysie]

You know I actually feel sorry for the on-field referees. They were the ones target, but being totally honest the issue more was with the video referees. They were the ones that made the critical decisions that eventually costed us the game.

 

[dogluva]

Did well mate. Look I can accept a loss but this one has cut really deep. You know when you can feel that something is brewing and you know that when it happens it will be crazy mad but not unexpected, well that was Friday. As each bad decision compounded, frustration grew and then.....well we all know what happened. The extent to which it did shocked me and it made me feel sick to the stomach when the bottles started flying.All I could think about then was the black eye we were all going to cop because of the thoughtless action of a handful of idiots. I love my club and I will defend them to the end but once again I now have to cop abuse from fans of other clubs who just want to put the boot in.
It has already started and all I can do is let them know that what happened is not indicative of every Bulldog fan.
The big problem as I see it is the NRL do not want to acknowledge their officials had a part to play in all the frustration. They are untouchable and protected from any sort of criticism. The rules need to be simpler and more black and white;and be applied equally each and every week.Every game you see of a weekend it seems the rules are applied and interpreted differently, what is a penalty in one instance is not in another. This is why players and fans get so frustrated and honestly I don't blame them.

 

[Ecca]

My issues are not with any of the referees if I am being honest, NO ONE goes out thinking today I am going to do a sub par job, NO ONE!.

I do not buy into the conspiracy theories doing the rounds, not one bit, I do feel that there is UNINTENTIONAL preferential treatment, to certain teams and players, and vice versa. Again I do NOT blame the referees.

I Blame the NRL, there appears to be no accountability, no quality control, no mechanism for open and honest feedback, this is what is needed, an Issue is raised, the issue is addressed and either proven to be an issue or not, and if there is an issue, it is resolved, through education firstly, then through demotion, and finally through termination, but likewise, exceptional performances should be rewarded.

If you are doing a poor job at your workplace, and NO one is telling you that you suck at what you are doing, how do you know you need to change or what you need to change, you just keep on keeping on. If the NRL wants to continue with this LUDICROUS approach of banning comments, then they at least need the referees to have a weekly press conference, where they are accountable to the media for their decisions (and this is at a MINIMUM)

 

[Slick]

You know I actually feel sorry for the on-field referees. They were the ones target, but being totally honest the issue more was with the video referees. They were the ones that made the critical decisions that eventually costed us the game.

i feel for all the refs for one reason: either way they rule they are technically correct however either way they were also wrong

if they are to follow the delayed kick dive rule and no penalty then they are correct there though violating if they are to consider the dangerous contact rule, though reversibly it is true as well. in addition to this what constitutes dangerous contact? was graham more dangerous than felise kaufusi as marshall is not injured?

 

[dogluva]

My issues are not with any of the referees if I am being honest, NO ONE goes out thinking today I am going to do a sub par job, NO ONE!.

I do not buy into the conspiracy theories doing the rounds, not one bit, I do feel that there is UNINTENTIONAL preferential treatment, to certain teams and players, and vice versa. Again I do NOT blame the referees.

I Blame the NRL, there appears to be no accountability, no quality control, no mechanism for open and honest feedback, this is what is needed, an Issue is raised, the issue is addressed and either proven to be an issue or not, and if there is an issue, it is resolved, through education firstly, then through demotion, and finally through termination, but likewise, exceptional performances should be rewarded.

If you are doing a poor job at your workplace, and NO one is telling you that you suck at what you are doing, how do you know you need to change or what you need to change, you just keep on keeping on. If the NRL wants to continue with this LUDICROUS approach of banning comments, then they at least need the referees to have a weekly press conference, where they are accountable to the media for their decisions (and this is at a MINIMUM)

Mate what you have said here is great and I gave you a thumbs up. Pity that Todd Greenberg and co do not agree with you.

 

[Ecca]

Mate what you have said here is great and I gave you a thumbs up. Pity that Todd Greenberg and co do not agree with you.

Cheers mate, the only way in my opinion to encourage any change is for the fans of ALL teams to come together and say "If this is your best, then your best is not good enough."

Change only happens when a LARGE Majority of those oppressed by the systems in place all agree that change is needed, simply put, we cannot do this alone. I would LOVE to rally the troops from all teams and encourage a unilateral response to the unacceptable manner in which the NRL has conducted itself.

 

[Mr Invisible]

You know I actually feel sorry for the on-field referees. They were the ones target, but being totally honest the issue more was with the video referees. They were the ones that made the critical decisions that eventually costed us the game.

Don't feel sorry for them. They make a killing from the money they get for controlling games as required.

 

[Mr Invisible]

My issues are not with any of the referees if I am being honest, NO ONE goes out thinking today I am going to do a sub par job, NO ONE!.

I do not buy into the conspiracy theories doing the rounds, not one bit, I do feel that there is UNINTENTIONAL preferential treatment, to certain teams and players, and vice versa. Again I do NOT blame the referees.

I Blame the NRL, there appears to be no accountability, no quality control, no mechanism for open and honest feedback, this is what is needed, an Issue is raised, the issue is addressed and either proven to be an issue or not, and if there is an issue, it is resolved, through education firstly, then through demotion, and finally through termination, but likewise, exceptional performances should be rewarded.

If you are doing a poor job at your workplace, and NO one is telling you that you suck at what you are doing, how do you know you need to change or what you need to change, you just keep on keeping on. If the NRL wants to continue with this LUDICROUS approach of banning comments, then they at least need the referees to have a weekly press conference, where they are accountable to the media for their decisions (and this is at a MINIMUM)

Mate... it is no conspiracy theory, and its dead simple.

Anyone who is employed and is shit at their job, gets a few warnings then the sack.

The NRL refuse not only to admit their referees make mistakes, but also not to reprimand them as well. Bottom line is, the NRL WANT it to seem like their referees are making mistakes, when infact its how they are being told to control that game.

The NRL has only ever sacked one ref (Bill Harrigan).

Ask yourself why they don't sack imcompetent refs.... perhaps because they don't want to piss them off and have someone blow the whole match fixing racket wide open.

 

[Ecca]

Mate... it is no conspiracy theory, and its dead simple.

Anyone who is employed and is shit at their job, gets a few warnings then the sack.

The NRL refuse not only to admit their referees make mistakes, but also not to reprimand them as well. Bottom line is, the NRL WANT it to seem like their referees are making mistakes, when infact its how they are being told to control that game.

The NRL has only ever sacked one ref (Bill Harrigan).

Ask yourself why they don't sack imcompetent refs.... perhaps because they don't want to piss them off and have someone blow the whole match fixing racket wide open.

I somewhat agree, I feel the NRL are so scared of being wrong about ANYTHING, they do everything to silence those in a position to criticise where it will have any impact on them, frankly, they don't care about the fans because lets be honest, our dissatisfaction is irrelevent because much like the Romans, and any other nation that has held a strict dictatorial control over the masses, they did it because of the masses inability to organise themselves to point in the same direction and attack the common enemy.

Yes, I may be a keyboard warrior but I am an angry one, and quite frankly, I want change, not so the Bulldogs get a fairer shake, but so the game as a whole improves and again becomes a sport that the masses follow because, it entertains us, we rise and fall with the team we love, from the highest of highs, to the lowest of lows. All on the back of a well run game, where it is open and honest, mistakes are identified and addressed, open discussion is allowed, and the sport is managed in a manner of which we the fans can be proud.

I think, we as a group of fans of Rugby League first and formost, and also ones who bleed blue and white, try to encourage the frustrated fans of other clubs to join with us in protest about the shambles that is the NRL, start simple, 2 or 3 banners at each game that bear the same message, keep this up, build the protest week on week, get the buy in of others and by mid to late this season, we stand a chance of driving change with the power of that comes from mobilising the largest and most important group in the world of sport, the fans

 

[Özil]

You know I actually feel sorry for the on-field referees. They were the ones target, but being totally honest the issue more was with the video referees. They were the ones that made the critical decisions that eventually costed us the game.

Nothing to do with the refs or video refs at all.

Its the NRL who have put these stupid rules in place by adding mor grey area to these rulings and these refs are finding it hard to interprete these rules which adds to more confusion to the rules For the players.

Different refs interprete the obstruction, strip and dominant tackles because grey rulings allows them to.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Mate... it is no conspiracy theory, and its dead simple.

Anyone who is employed and is shit at their job, gets a few warnings then the sack.

The NRL refuse not only to admit their referees make mistakes, but also not to reprimand them as well. Bottom line is, the NRL WANT it to seem like their referees are making mistakes, when infact its how they are being told to control that game.

The NRL has only ever sacked one ref (Bill Harrigan).

Ask yourself why they don't sack imcompetent refs.... perhaps because they don't want to piss them off and have someone blow the whole match fixing racket wide open.

There is no way they can pull off match fixing without the help of players and coaches. No doubt there is spot fixing and the refs manage a game to a degree but the final result is hardly pre-determined before kick off.

But i think the biggest worry is illegal betting markets. They transfer billions of dollars throughout world sport and can have far more influence on say a grounds keeper, official, player and so on.

 

[Mr Invisible]

There is no way they can pull off match fixing without the help of players and coaches. No doubt there is spot fixing and the refs manage a game to a degree but the final result is hardly pre-determined before kick off.

But i think the biggest worry is illegal betting markets. They transfer billions of dollars throughout world sport and can have far more influence on say a grounds keeper, official, player and so on.

Well I don't believe the betting partners are always involved (they refunded on the Dogs game), but the refs could easily have a friend of theirs (or family member) put $$$ on a team to win.

A few back to back equalising penalties and you are on the tryline.