Good article in the MEN by Saints chairman Eamonn McManus. Saying how we don't want to see Punch & Judy giving their
decisions on screen, if at all, get rid of the video re.f
My opinion is to get rid, if you have it you have for every game. the way it is now you get unbalanced decisions and results

And to add insult to injury we also have to listen to duty-bound Stuart Cummings trying to defend and justify every poor decision the referees make.

I don't normally watch NRL but recently saw Warriors v Storm,first half
5 or 6 tries most from kicks.
Not a single referral.
Surely the answer can't be to remove the technology but to ensure the refs use it sparingly .
And,please get rid of Puch and Judy. Use refs for what they're supposed to be good at,refereeing,and allow the camera techies to control the video output.
At present it's a bloody embarrassment.
As you say,great article by McManus

I think the refs are in a lose-lose situation here...

If a referee refers a try for review every single time that one is scored, you get fans angry that they haven't got the guts to make that call themselves.

However, if a try is scored and the referee [idoesn't[/i use the technology that is afforded to them, you get angry fans wondering why they didn't refer it to the video ref for a bit of support.

So essentially they're damned if they do, and damned if they don't.

Every game should have video technology or no game should make use of it.

If that becomes the case then we need to bite the bullet and have every try anylised.

Now we are back with promotion and relegation one bad decision by an official could have massive consequences for a team.

I agree - good article and captures the Zeitgeist.

I thought he may have used words slightly differently in the week Zak Hardaker has got himself in a bit of bother.

[url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/st-helens-chairman-slams-video-7219809See If You Agree[/url

A bit of stereotyping never harmed anyone.

This is something Jack Dearden bangs on about on Radio Manchester. Apparently, only having the video ref at certain matches means it's not a level playing field. Since Jack thinks it, it's a pretty safe bet that it's . And it is. It's a level playing for the two teams involved in a match with a video ref, and it's a level playing field for the two teams involved in a match without one. That's all that matters. in the match with the video ref, each team is as likely as the other to have a try awarded or disallowed on the intervention of the video ref. It has no bearing on other matches.

What would the effect be of having a video ref at every match? Given that each team is as likely as the other to have a try awarded or disallowed by video, how does it affect the outcome over the long term? It doesn't, surely.

When Jacko bangs on about video refs at every match, I end up thinking, "But Jack, different referees see different things. For a level playing field, then, you need the same referee at every game. And the weather has an effect too. Would we have lost our first game at the CoS if a couple of bobbins kick throughs hadn't held up in the snow? Unlikely, so games need to be played in exactly the same weather conditions in order to ensure a level playing field. And pitches. Some have deeper in goal areas than others. Some have corners that turn up like a dried up butty, others don't. So, for this level playing field, we need all matches to be played on the same pitch." And then I switch off, because I can't bear listening to him babble on.

I'm struggling to see the comparison between McManus' comments and Zak Hardaker's homophobic outburst?

I know what you mean John, but I think McManus is saying that the worst thing about the video ref is that it's being used too often by the match official on the park and is detracting away from the speed of the game. The addition this year of the 'Punch and Judy' show (no doubt inspired by some bright spark at Sky) is then further turning the whole thing into a circus and I have to say I agree with his assessment. Let's face it would we all have been upset if we had seen Meli's first try against Wigan allowed, followed by the next Wigan try being allowed in almost exactly the same circumstances? I doubt it, it also meant that all of the subsequent referrals added a significant amount of time where the players and crowd are just kicking their heels waiting for someone to make a decision.

McManus point about reaching a stage where the video ref is overused is correct and he further supposes that perhaps the only way to solve that is to get rid of it entirely. I agree with the former but not necessarily the latter, as I can't see Sky agreeing to it, as it's clear, from the Punch and Judy show, that they see this as a cornerstone of the SL entertainment package.

There don't appear to be any easy answers to this either.

I was commenting on the assertion that we should have the video ref at every game or at no games. It's nonsense.

On the McManus point, he's right that it's now being overused. A large part of the problem this season is that there seems to have been some edict handed down from on high about obstruction, and we're seeing tries chalked off for obstructions so small that the Hadron Collider would struggle to spot them. I think in previous seasons, most of the tries we saw disallowed in the game against Wigan would have stood and wouldn't have been referred, but this season, with edict in hand, the referees are having to go to the screen at the merest hint of a block.

Hopefully, coaches will adapt and work on improving the co-ordination between the dummy runners and the ball carrier, and the need to refer will be reduced.

I think that this is all a result of Sky TV setting the entire agenda for Rugby League.

They dictate the fixture list and they believe that the video ref makes for extra suspense and good TV so while they fund the game I'm afraid there will be no change. Certainly no video ref at every game because where's the benefit of that to Sky and their muppets?

I think the video ref adds a bit of drama to proceedings. The problem at the moment is overuse caused, I believe, by a clamp down on obstructions. Referees are in a difficult situation with this. If some of those disallowed tries in the Wigan game had been awarded, you can bet there'd have been people on here next day having little tantrums about the obstructions. So, it's probably right that the officials try to clamp down on it, and almost inevitable that they end up being criticised for it.

It'll all blow over when the coaches adapt.