Legends urge NRL to abandon ref experiment

2 years ago 163

Andrew Johns has urged the NRL to instrumentality to a two-referee system, saying that the velocity of the game, arsenic good arsenic the wide scope of duties, were simply beyond 1 person.

Debate has agelong raged implicit whether the crippled was champion served with 1 oregon 2 on-field officials and it was brought backmost into the spotlight aft the week 1 finals, with the Rabbitohs v Roosters crippled successful peculiar dominated by Bunker interventions.

Johns has been 1 of the strongest voices against the Bunker since it was introduced and told Wide World of Sports' Freddy and the Eighth, getting a 2nd referee backmost connected the tract could lessen the interaction of technology.

"The game's getting truthful fast, and scrutinised truthful much, it's excessively overmuch work connected 1 ref," Johns said.

"The main referee controls 10 metres, controls foul play, benignant of watching the ruck - the idiosyncratic down is managing the ruck."

Refereeing volition ever beryllium astatine the forefront of immoderate rugby league discourse, but careless of anyone's thoughts connected their performance, it's a near-consensus sentiment that there's simply excessively overmuch to absorption connected for immoderate 1 person.

"The mediocre referee has got to look astatine 10 metres, he's got to telephone surrender, this and that successful the ruck, it's excessively overmuch responsibility," Johns said.

The 2 referee strategy was implemented successful 2009, earlier being scrapped erstwhile the contention restarted successful 2020 aft a two-month hiatus.

"I don't deliberation anyone was upset with 2 - it was conscionable a substance of COVID ... it was lone COVID that made it spell backmost to one," Brad Fittler said.

"If you inquire immoderate question connected rugby league, there's ever going to beryllium radical saying that, and radical saying the opposite."

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Chasing perfection is ever going to punctual calls for alteration - and the two-ref strategy was an casual people successful the past for pundits and fans who sought thing to beryllium outraged about.

But the crippled has lurched done a assortment of officiating crises successful the past 3 play - and although Peter V'Landys arrived and pledged to hole officiating, the ruck has slowed down with the removal of the 2nd referee, portion the 'six again' regularisation has been an added complication.

The boys telephone for instrumentality of two-ref system: Freddy & the Eighth - Finals Week 2

But, arsenic Fittler noted, the ruck was successful a comparatively steadfast spot earlier the 2nd referee was removed.

"When the 2 refs were there, no 1 complained - it got to a signifier wherever everyone thought they were doing a beauteous bully job," Fittler said.

New Zealand manager Michael Maguire was 1 adept who defended the 2 ref strategy astatine the time.

"The onslaught does travel with a spot of ruck speed. I deliberation the ruck velocity determination conscionable shows what happens erstwhile you've got 1 ref. That's the truth," helium told AAP successful 2019.

"And it was adjudicated connected some teams the aforesaid way, truthful it was precisely the aforesaid but arsenic a half, if you can't make ruck speed, you can't get up implicit the (advantage) enactment to make the things that we privation to do."

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