NRL - Self Damage

Glasses don't help those who are incompetent

The game of Rugby League is very strong. You know this to be true when you see all the damage that is happening to the game and yet it still continues on. Over the years the game has seen many scandals, court battles, negative media and of the course the Super League battle, yet here it is still as strong as it always has been.

Can the game keep damaging itself though and expect to survive?  The game is now at a point where most do not know how a game will pan out and the players have nothing to do with it. It all comes down to whether or not the officials who make the calls over the eighty minutes get it right or not.  The biggest worry all year is that a referee blunder is going to cost a team the Grand Final and in a way it has already happened. The game between the North Queensland Cowboys and Manly Sea-Eagles has already influenced the Grand-Final. There were so many errors in this game that one has to question Manly's right to contest the right to make the final.

Manly may have gone on to win but change a call or two to the correct one and the rest of the game is completely different. What I cannot understand is that if the video referees are seeing the same images that we see then how can they get it so wrong?  Is it time for the NRL to admit that the referees in the box are not up to standard and ex-players and even arm chair experts should be sitting in the control room. I will even throw another conspiracy into the mix. It may not be the case but when the network has control over the images, why is it that later in a game or after a game there is suddenly a better angle or clearer image that could not be found earlier.

I would like to see the benefit of doubt decision thrown out when it comes to video ref decisions. If the video ref cannot see conclusively what has happened then it should always be referred to the referee on the field. It also appears that logic is thrown out the window when they are not sure. If the game continues on in the same vain for the rest of the season and nothing changes next year then fans will start walking away from the game. The NRL for to long has allowed the standard of officials to slip behind and adding a 2nd referee on the field is just allowing them to be more complacent, knowing that there is a fall back if they cannot see something.

Also if the game is going to fast and getting ahead of the game then maybe it is there are other avenues to explore. Nothing has sped up the game more than the interchange and this is a rule that needs to be overhauled.  If it was good enough in the past for reserves only then why are our footballers of today who are supposed to be fitter and stronger unable to play without interchange.

Fans and players all understand referees can make mistakes but it is the continued mistakes happening every week that are the problem. Once the season is over the commission has a lot of work to do but it needs to know that next year if it is still damaging it's own game it will make negative ground.