It's clear change is needed for the Peter McDonald Premiership and rugby league in this area.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Referees are refusing to take to the field because of abuse from the players and the crowd, the number of officials is dwindling, and NSW Rugby League has been accused of not penalising any wrongdoing appropriately.
So where to from here?
Earlier this week, NSWRL's zone manager for Western and South Western, David Skinner, sent an email to PMP board members, referees' associations and NSWRL officials.
ACM obtained a copy of the email, which was sent following an investigation into the Wellington-Forbes reserve grade match on Sunday, May 19. That game was abandoned at half-time after continual dissent towards referee from Phil Lindley form both teams.
As well as confirming no punishments outside of concerning act notices would be handed down, Skinner used the statement to highlight a number of issues in the lower grades of the PMP this season uncovered through a number of enquiries.
They were as follows:
- Shortage of experienced referees,
- Lack of adequate ground control,
- Low quality game review resources,
- Poor player respect for officials, and
- Failing club communication.
Skinner's email also included a lengthy section of recommendations for clubs to consider.
They are, in full, as follows:
- NSWRL enacts the Community Referee model so that club information and education begins and Clubs can deliver on this model in 2025. With a little luck the clubs can partially deliver in 2024 with what qualified resources they already have. We'll investigate that immediately so we can liaise with the Appointments Board on how that rollout might look. Ideally we need three suitable qualified Referees registered at each club to make a start on officiating lower grade games in whole at the earliest opportunity. This doesn't immediately solve the "experienced referee" shortage but it's anticipated that with extra available officials it may unearth some promising officials to strengthen the Associations in coming years.
- Ground Management is poor if we're talking about officiating with a "strong visual appearance". I believe we can deliver training to the clubs to invoke a few simple practises that work as a deterrent for bad behaviour. In particular this requires a strong visual appearance of control at the entry area of each ground, regular public reminders on the PA and Electronic Scoreboards and control of the player bench area so it becomes an area where "emotion" is contained amongst players, trainers and coaches as good role models for the spectators. Training can be provided to all clubs on 12th June using Teams. PMP will demand compulsory attendance from each club.
- A guarantee of video being available in all grades would be invaluable. I don't think this is an onerous request given that NSWRL pay for the Referees and Video in the 1st Grade games. Many clubs are already providing this but refuse to connect the Referees PA, even stating that it comes at an extra cost! This simple function would be of considerable benefit in stamping out dissent and foul play. It's a no brainer. NSWRL will contact all the video providers next week and get the audio connections done at those locations where it doesn't already exist.
- PMP commences a trial addition to the "Tough Love in League" Policy which becomes Point 8 in the policy (other points moving down one number to a higher number in that part of the policy) and states;
"As per the Laws of the Game the Captain may only approach the Referee at a "stoppage" of play and in speaking to the Referee they must not question or refer to the Referee's ability or integrity and not debate decisions. A penalty or a scrum is not considered a stoppage for the purpose of Captains Communication with the Referee who is encouraged to keep the game flowing. The only stoppages in which the Referee can be approached is when a try is scored, time out for injury or a goal line drop out. In relation to the communication it must be respectful and infrequent.
Should a Captain approach the Referee too frequently (say 3 or more times in a half) the Referee has the right to sin bin the Captain. Should other players approach the Referee questioning a decision this will be considered as an action on the "Captains behalf" and the Referee has the right to include these in the frequencies of explanation and take action against the Captain in the same manner. In simple terms the Captain will be held accountable for the behaviour of his team and their strong and controlled leadership will avoid them being sin binned."
This can start next week as part of the next point regarding communication to coaches.
- In many instances communication from the Competition Administrators and Officials remains bottle necked at the front office of the clubs, rarely reaching the coaches, trainers and players who need it the most. It is recommended that any "crack down" messages are delivered to the coaches and trainers, which will involve a mailing list being produced from the registration database contacts. Such contact list will be held by NSWRL Staff, PMP Executive and G10 & G11 Referee Association Secretaries to ensure that ignorance is no longer used as an excuse on game days. NSWRL encourages the Referees Association and PMP Executive to be transparent in these crack downs and not to be afraid to clarify rules on a weekly basis when releasing the Appointments. The following is a sample of what's gone out in another competition earlier this week.
The email continued with guidelines for referees to follow from next round.
It read common sense was needed, but strong action was to be taken against any players who use "sledging and offensive or obscene language towards opposing players".
In all grades, but especially first grade, it was also stated the following areas needed a "greater emphasis" from referees:
- keeping the 10m and ruck compliance - clean up the ruck infringements
- remove players from standing in the rucks to keep markers out of play.
- flopping - a defender cannot drop or fall onto a prone player or tackled player.
- putting players on notice who come in and lift the leg of an attacking player whilst held in an upright tackle by other defenders. Referee to call HELD once the leg is lifted
- deliberately obstructs an opponent who is NOT in possession.
The need to watch for all dangerous throws and lifting tackles, and making sure markers "take up a position immediately and directly behind the player playing the ball" was also included.
Referees in the Peter McDonald Premiership are currently on strike after what they consider "inadequate and weak" penalties handed down after the Wellington-Forbes match.
In a statement released on Thursday morning by the Group 11 and Group 10 the referees' associations, officials said they had have "grown tired of accepting abuse as the norm".
A referee, believed to be travelling from the Sydney region, will officiate Sunday's annual long weekend fixture between Parkes and Forbes.