Secret document reveals the RIDICULOUS rules NRL referees have to follow to avoid being sacked – with bizarre ‘vocabulary sequences’ dictating exactly what they say to players
- NRL referees are being instructed to use very specific ‘ruck vocab’ for every single tackle
- Former referee Luke Phillips says the officials are expected to be ‘robots’
- The NRL’s head of football, Graham Annesley, has ticked off a number of dubious decisions from Round 11
NRL referees are being treated like ‘robots’ who aren’t allowed have a ‘feel for the game’ after an officiating document was leaked highlighting how every single aspect of a whistleblower’s job is controlled down to the last consonant.
That’s the view of Roosters premiership winner and former NRL referee Luke Phillips, who told 2GB’s Continuous Call team he grew frustrated during his time in the league’s elite officiating team when all he wanted was for the game to flow.
‘I wanted to have a nil-all penalty count and when it would end up 2-1, they would point out the penalties I should have blown during the game and when I challenged them on it, by explaining why I allowed it to continue from a footy point of view, they said it put more pressure on the referee the following week.
‘I’d be in trouble for not giving penalties when I didn’t want to give them.’
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves got binned for swearing at the ref last weekend – but refs can be dropped if they don’t use some very precise language when they speak to players
Channel 9 pundit Mark Levy called the refereeing ranks a ‘fair dinkum dictatorship’ after revealing he’d been given access to a leaked document that confirms just how much every aspect of officiating is nitpicked.
In the secret document, there is a set vocabulary a referee must use with every single tackle in a game. Given there was an average of 665 tackles per game in Round 11, it’s safe to say this is an unnecessary step for perfectly accomplished and experienced referees, who should be allowed to trust their instincts.
Mitchell Moses of the Eels is sent to the sin bin by referee Ben Cummins during Parramatt’s Round 11 clash against Manly.
The so-called ‘ruck vocab’ is decidedly confusing. For example, there are times in a match when the referee will apply a ‘two step’ approach with their communication to the ruck.
These situations include the identification of a ‘surrender tackle’ and upright tackles. The ‘surrender tackle vocab sequence (for tackles 0-4)’ is:
- Call ‘Surrender’ (mandatory)
- Once sufficient time has been allowed for the defender, call ‘Stand’ (mandatory)
- Instruction to the defensive line/markers and/or ball carrier
- ‘Hold & go’ call to the defensive line. ‘Go’ is to be called once the ball clears the ruck.
- Tackle count (mandatory)
Former NRL referee Bill Harrigan had many a famous stand-off where he held his ground, like this one with Broncos and Queensland legend Gorden Tallis
Essentially, in pursuit of unrealistic perfection, referees aren’t allowed to trust their instincts when it comes to the flow of the game, or build a begrudging respect with players like former great Bill Harrigan famously had.
It means NRL games will often see an Us v Them mentality between players and referees that leads to frustrating combativeness and inconsistent calls, which is leading many fans to tune out, with things coming to a head in Round 11 with a number of contentious calls.
Rooster turned ex-referee Luke Phillips has blasted the NRL for treating officials like robots
The NRL’s head of football, Graham Annesley, sprung to the defence of referees and the controversial bunker at a media briefing on Monday, ticking off all the contentious calls which had fans blowing up on the weekend.
This included a match-changing incident where Manly winger Christian Tuipulotu was penalised for a high tackle on Parramatta’s Hayze Dunster, and decision to disallow a try to Knights centre Dane Gagai.
Annesley said he didn’t ‘think we should be throwing people under the bus’ when it came to tight decisions – but players and fans might think otherwise, when games are increasingly being decided by refereeing decisions.
Instead of pursuing perfection, can the NRL let the game flow and trust their referees? Otherwise there may be a whole lot less fans watching come finals time.