There are a number of rules that really annoy me when I'm watching a match. They're either completely illogical or affect the flow of the game.
1. When a player is making a tackle they are playing at the ball. This rule was introduced only recently to prevent referees having to judge intent. Under this law, any player attempting a tackle is deemed to be playing at the ball. It's seen quite a lot in games when the man carrying the football attempts an offload and throws into the arm of the guy trying to tackle him. 9/10 times the guy making the tackle is not playing at the ball. However, under this rule, it is deemed a knock-on and the scrum given to the guy who attempted the pass. IMO it should go back to the old rule of the player actually has to play at the ball, because a guy tackling around the legs is in no way attempting to touch or grab the ball.
2. Separation of the ball when scoring a try. This has been on my nerves ever since it was changed from control. Under the old rules if a player was deemed to have lost control of the ball it was seen as a knock-on and a 20m restart would follow. Under the new rule there has to be separation between the hand carrying the ball and the ball itself to declare a knock-on and disallow the try. However, in normal play, if a player loses control of the ball then it is deemed a knock-on. Please, take it back to the old rule. If a player has no control over the football a try should not be awarded.
3. Policing of the 10m. This is really annoying. When I'm watching a match I have Sports Ears which allow me to hear the referees calls. I hear a hell of a lot of refs calling out players who are offside and threatening to penalise them but they never do. The players retreat 10m but have moved a couple of meters forward before the ball has been played. Realistically the defenders are back 8m and this contributes to the slow speed of the game as more wrestling can be involved in making the tackle as the other team is hitting the line earlier than they should be.
Now on to the referees.There are a couple of quite good referees at the moment and some really bad ones. IMO Henry Perenara, Phil Haines and Gerard Sutton are some of the better referees. Most of these guys have a feel for the game and generally use their common sense and instinct when refereeing. And most importantly they're consistent with their calls. Ben Cummins and Brett Suttor are probably the 2 worst referees in the game. Cummins come across as an idiot who tries to stamp his authority on the game. I'm sure most people remember the Parra Vs Souths game in 2010 when he sent Cayless to the bin even though Cayless hadn't done anything wrong. Not to mention when he sent Mortimer to the bin for pushing Slater in a match in 2010. As well as that. In 2008 he penalised Braith Anasta for supposedly using a choke hold when tackling David Fa'alogo. Fa'alogo responded by punching Anasta. The penalty was against the Roosters. In the same game but about 20min later, Anasta was again punched by Fa'alogo and again Anasta was penalised but this time Anasta was also sent to the Sin Bin. As for Suttor. The guy has no feel for the game. He seems to get into the mode of having to blow penalties and looking for penalties to give.
Would like to her your thoughts on the topics posted.
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