Is a high penalty count ruining rugby league? Stuart Cummings answers your questions and queries.
Ever been left scratching your head at a decision? Ever wondered just why the whistle went, or why a try was wiped off? Well, thanks to skysports.com and leading Super League official Stuart Cummings, you need live in the dark no longer! This week Stuart does his best to clear up confusion on some video refereeing and the way the high penalty counts can stem the flow of open rugby league... PENALTY CHARGEStuart, for me it started to get worse last season. This season, of the TV games I have watched, the penalty count for me is starting to have a detrimental affect on the games fluency. We are averaging a penalty every 3-4 mins in some games. Is this the fault of referees, the players, the rules or all three that is contributing to this? I had an interesting debate with friends who are primarily football supporters, who watch rugby league as a passing interest, and all but one commented about the amount of penalties there are in the game now. Is this an early season blip, or is this a trend for the season do you think? Regards, Colin. STUART REPLIES: Hi Colin, It is always an interesting debate as to who is responsible for high penalty counts. For my part I can see that referees do not go out to blow as many penalties as they can and they do have a responsibility to manage the game. however referees are also required to be consistent in their application of the laws and we work hard with coaches to try and get a common understanding of the law interpretations. Last season we averaged around 17 penalties per game. In round three this year the average was 16.5 per game. Early season does have an effect as players get their match-timing right and settle in to any new interpretations. This year's change in interpretation on the ten metres has caused more penalties in that area this season but I would hope this would reduce as players get used to coming all the way back. VIDEO NASTY?
Hi Stuart, I wonder what your thoughts were on the video ref's decision not to allow the Warrington try on Friday night. My own opinion was if the video ref wasn't sure after viewing the incident more than a dozen times how can one more look at it convince him it's 'no try'? The fact that he had to look at it so many times and for so long can only suggest he's not sure, therefore logically benefit of doubt should come into play. All round refereeing of that game was terribly biased towards St Helens and I was supporting them; that should tell you everything. Kind Regards, Tammie, Vikings fan. STUART REPLIES: The video referee has the responsibility to look at all available angles. Sometimes it can take a while to view all the various angles so it doesn't always follow that if he keeps looking at it their must be doubt in his mind. Very often when viewing an incident it is like putting a jigsaw together. Not all the information you need is one particular angle so you have to piece together bits form several angles. The decision was correct in the end which is the main thing.