Problems with the NrL

After a season of bad decisions from the referees and the touch judges not wanting to make decisions at all, it was after the Cowboys second last home game against the Broncos on Friday 28 August 2009, when this was the final straw and the game, that robbed the Cowboys of a seat in the finals. After the fury had subsided and I had my wits, somewhat, about me I thought I was well over due to do something about it.

The following letter, intended for David Gallop, was sent to, who I thought were some NRL heavyweights. I sent it to all the boys at the NRL Footy Shows, including Phil Gould, Paul Vautin, Peter Sterling, and the rest of the crew. I also sent it to about a dozen radio stations across QLD and Northern NSW, and about a half a dozen newspapers, the only one of which printed it which was the Townsville Bulletin. They did not however, print the whole letter. Below is the letter in its entirety, to those who so wish to view it. There was also a letter sent to the whole Cowboys team including the Coaching staff and Peter Parr, which I will enter at a later date.

Ashley Graham - Round 25 28/08/09

"To the ardent rugby league supporter 2009 has been a frustrating year, where we saw a crackdown on contact with the kicker, this was the flavour of the month for the refs and the NRL for the start of the season. The frustration is that decisions made in the early rounds of the competition changed the results of matches and after about six rounds, contact with the kicker did not even get a second look from the ref let alone a penalty. I have only been watching Rugby League for a few years, after lots of encouragement from my other half I have grown to enjoy the game and always look forward to the weekend when my Cowboys take to the field. Not knowing all of the rules when the whistle is blown I sometimes find myself asking “what happened there?” and it is explained to me. What is frustrating is that game after game the match officials make inconsistent decisions that change the course of the game and you can see the players become discouraged when they have made a great play only to have the match official disallow it when last week or next week it is allowed. Touch judges that will not make a call on forward passes for fear of getting the call wrong, then it is referred to the video ref to make a decision, he is not allowed to make a call on forward passes so you may as well ask one of the mascots. If the video ref is not allowed to make a call on a forward pass then if there is nothing else wrong he has to award the try, knowing that the pass was forward. The technology is available to make a call on forward passes, why not use it? We may hear of half a dozen off field incidents during the season but every week dozens of decisions are made that change the result of the game and break the resolve of many a player and the heart of the rugby league fans. Being a Cowboys fan I feel we have been on the short end of many of these decisions throughout the season and these decisions have had impacts on the results of the matches. Against the Bulldogs, Friday 14 August 2009, the Willie Tonga try was disallowed due to Carl Webb taking out a defender (Brett Kimmorley) and even though Kimmorley was never going to have an influence on the try being scored, he was flattened and the commentators said that “The officials don’t like it when a defender is taken out like that”. The next night, watching a game on pay TV an almost identical try was scored and a defender was taken out, low and behold, the try was awarded. On Friday night, 28 August 2009, against the Broncos, I was sitting adjacent to the touch judge when the Broncos scored their first try, my grandmother knew the final pass was forward and she needs a guide dog to go to the shop. The touch judge would not make a call and it was referred to the video ref, who is not allowed to make a call on forward passes, so why refer it? The technology is available to make a call on forward passes, why not use it? If the rule states that you are not allowed to make contact with the head of an opposition player, why do some high tackles result in the offender being put on report, some result in a penalty and some players apparently only have a neck above their shoulders. Penalising all contact with the head may result in some “soft” penalties but players would soon learn not to contact the head of the opposing players if they lose the game due to the resulting penalty. The Cowboys have had a good year this year and I am proud of the effort of every one of them, they have represented North Queensland well and I wear my Cowboys jersey with pride. I have heard other season ticket holders say they will not be buying them next year, and it is not because of the Cowboys performance on the field, it is the ongoing poor performance of the match officials. When next season comes around I will still be there proudly waving my Cowboys flag and shouting encouragement for my team, Go the Cowboys!!!
Games are lost and won due to poor decisions by match officials and they seem to have no accountability for the decisions they make, maybe if they got paid by the number of correct decisions they make, they may at least try to get it right but they would probably have to file for bankruptcy by the end of the season. If the rules state that you are not allowed to make contact with the head of an opposition player, why do some high tackles result in the offender being put on report, some result in a penalty and sometimes, even with four match officials on the field they act like they’ve not seen anything.
While there is gambling on NRL, or any sport, there is always going to be corruption, and sometimes it is easy to think that the ref has got a wager on the game, whilst I am not questioning the integrity of the match officials, their on field decisions often leave me scratching my head and they place themselves in a position where people doubt their veracity.

David Gallop, do something about how the game is officiated, any business that consistently makes poor decisions will go under, the NRL is no different, it is the fans that make the game, they are your customers, if you don’t look after your customers, they will shop somewhere else.

Theresa Farrell
DeeragunTownsville Qld 4818"