Position Vacant: NRL Referee. No Experience/Talent/Sense Needed

Another weekend of rugby league and another circus of dubious decisions. A week after the Bulldogs were cheated out of two points against the Dragons, round 11 provided yet more evidence that the NRL needs to seriously look at the standard of its referees.

Firstly, there was the Souths v Parra game. After 80 enthralling minutes of football, fans were cruelly robbed of an exciting finish when referee Brett Suttor called time as Souths attempted to feed a scrum seconds from full time. The match ended with a draw. Whether Souths would have turned this play into anything or not is not the point.

Then in the Wests Tigers v Brisbane game, the Campbelltown punters were left fuming with the controversial sin-binning of inspirational captain and half Benji Marshall at a crucial point late in the second half. The Broncos won 20-18.

The icing on the cake came in Sunday's clash between Manly and the Gold Coast at Skilled Stadium. Matty Orford would have been right to think he had the game all but wrapped up after his 75th minute field goal. That was until three minutes later when he was penalised in front of the posts for apparently taking out Titans fullback Preston Campbell in another dubious decision. Scott Prince added the extras and the Gold Coast won by a point.

In his post match interview Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler declared "“Week-in week-out we are discussing similar issues, similar situations and it is time something was done about it; The game is professional, the officialdom isn’t."

Hasler is right. All the games above were close games. Contoversial decisions decided their fate.

The role of referees should be to ensure that games are fair, fast and flowing. It is up to the two sides on the park to determine the result. When every round starts to bring with it yet more blunders and officiating errors, it is clear something needs to be done.

In recent weeks Rugby League has been the unfortunate subject of too much bad press and controversy from incidents that were out of the NRL's control. It's about time they did something about the one issue that clearly is within it.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

So today's blog covers three separate issues across three different sports. The good, the bad and the ugly. So let's get to it.

The Good: Sport can be cruel. Just ask the NSW Waratahs. The team embarked on its tour of South Africa needing to win three games from as many starts to remain in contention for rugby's Super 14 finals. They performed admirably, winning all three games as required in a champion effort. Luck however was to have to have the final say on their 2009 campaign, with the Crusaders win over the Blues leaving the Waratahs cruelly short of the finals. Just five points in their for-and-against differential made the difference, with NSW missing out on the finals but capturing the hearts of the sporting public with a fantastic tour, and three wins they can be proud of. So here's to the Waratahs, and wishing them every success in 2010. They won't be champions on the table but they are champions in our hearts.

The Bad: Australia's cricket selectors announced the touring party for this year's Ashes series today. For the most part the team picked should do the job admirably, and I for one look forward to seeing them succeed in the series. However, the decision to omit Andrew "Roy" Symonds is just plain dumb. To add to the idiocy, injury prone disappointment Shane Watson has again been included. This is a player who showed glimpses of greatness YEARS AGO, and hasn't been fit enough to repeat said feats for as long as most people's memories can reach. Symonds is a proven match winner. When the chips (or top order) are down, Roy is one of those gifted players who can make something out of nothing. He has saved Australia many a time with a brilliant innings just when it was needed. His experience and flair will be sorely missed. Let's hope Watson's battered body can hold up for more than one match this time, and then perhaps he can one day claim to be half the player that Andrew Symonds is.

The Ugly: Just what the NRL's Cronulla Sharks did not need. Already reeling from the New Zealand sex scandal and teetering on the edge of financial oblivion, the Sharks now have to contend with the positive drug test and subsequent provisional banning of second rower Reni Maitua. He has tested positive to the banned substance Clenbuterol, a performance enhancer. Maitua has shown patches of brilliance throughout a turbulent career in which he has made more headlines for his troubles off the field than his exploits on it. Cut from the Bulldogs at the end of 2008 for repeated misdemeanours, he was thrown a lifeline by Cronulla. Now he has betrayed their faith. Maitua and the Cronulla club now await the results of his "B" sample test - if it too is positive, he faces a lengthy ban which could signal the end of his career. It's such a shame for a player who showed so much promise early in his career.

That's all for today - you heard it here.

I'd like to report a robbery...

That's right. I'd like to report a robbery. In the 79th minute of last night's clash between Canterbury and St George, the Bulldogs were robbed of a fair try and a victory, and rugby league was robbed of some of its credibility.

Yes I am a Bulldogs fan. I was at the game and experienced the rollercoaster of emotions as the Bulldogs came back from a 14-0 deficit to be trailing 20-18 at the death, scoring what should have been the match winning try with 30 seconds remaining. With the rest of the blue and white supporters I cheers and clapped. And then the unthinkable - the try was disallowed and my joy turned to disappointment.

I think of myself as a good sport. So I declined an opportunity to join the bottle throwers and quickly exited the ground and made my way home. The try had been disallowed due to a shepherd and the Bulldogs had lost. I accepted it. Then this morning I read this:

http://www.livenews.com.au/sport/league/video-ref-got-bulldogs-try-decision-wrong-finch-admits/2009/5/16/206718

So what happens now? Video referee Steve Clark gets a slap on the wrist. He might miss next weekend's round. But the Dragons still have two competition points that should belong to the Bulldogs. That won't change.

Come September, those two points could mean the difference between a home semi-final or not. God forbid if Canterbury's season takes an ordinary turn, those two points could be the difference to even make the top eight. Those two points were earned fair and square. And those two points were denied.

That's why I'd like to report a robbery.

Matthew Johns

I guess every man and his dog has an opinion on the latest saga to envelop rugby league, ironically involving the older of the celebrated Johns duo less than two years after brother Andrew's own public controversy. The circumstances are different – whilst Andrew was caught red handed with ecstasy and subsequently admitted to years of drug abuse, Matthew stands accused of participating in group sex with a consensual female participant. He has been hung out to dry by story hungry journalists – a life and career destroyed over an incident that in my view, he should only be answerable about to his wife.

So the facts are that seven years ago Matthew Johns was in New Zealand with the Cronulla Sharks. Whilst there he participated in (some say instigated) a "gang bang" – whereby a young lady consensually participated in group sex with a number of Sharks players. In retrospect this lady has come to regret her actions, which is not unexpected. However, this was not a sexual assault. Matthew Johns broke no law.

In contrast, the game's most celebrated halfback, Jonathan Thurston continues to be admired and revered five years after allegedly participating in a sexual assault in Coffs Harbour. This allegation was never proven, however for Matthew Johns there was never a legal wrongdoing to prove.

As I have said, he DID cheat on his wife – which is not an admirable act – however that makes this matter between them. After the incident Johns came clean to his wife, they sorted out whatever they needed to and the matter should have ended there.

Now all of a sudden Matthew Johns finds himself very alone. He has overnight become the poster boy for sexual deviance in the NRL. In the process he has been stood down from Channel Nine and his part time role with the Melbourne Storm. He has been crucified by Four Corners, a Current Affair and the newspapers. No other footballer is bearing the brunt of this like he is.

I hope the journalists are happy that they have destroyed a man in the pursuit of viewers and readers.