Challenges the Way to go for NRL

Something must be done quickly to stop the rot that is NRL refereeing at the moment. Good games are being ruined and unfairly decided by poor officiating. Fans hate it, players hate it, coaches hate it, clubs hate it, punters hate it: it is making our game look like a farce.

The latest edition in the recent series of unfortunate events was a penalty against Manly half back Matt Orford after he dived on a loose ball kicked through by Preston Campbell. He was ruled to have taken Campbell out, even though he was clearly contesting the ball and even landed on top of the footy. Many people have been left bewildered, wondering what referee Matt Cecchin could have possibly seen to make his decision. Even with two referees, two touch judges and one video referee an incorrect game defining decision was made. Inexperience? A bad mistake? Whatever the reason, it is now clear that we cannot fix up the officiating in our game by adding more refs, neither can we magically improve the quality of our refs.

Last year the NRL got it wrong when they introduced video ref checking on nearly every knock on or penalty. It dramatically slowed the game down and they often made wrong decisions anyway.

There is a simple solution that has not yet been discussed as an option for Rugby League and it is one that has been introduced into other sports with success. The challenge system could resolve the issues we are currently encountering. It has worked in tennis, is (controversially) about to be introduced into cricket and has been a part of NFL for years. The NRL need to look at this option quickly and introduce a good system.

To prevent many stoppages and a challenge on every call, they should be made scarce, perhaps two incorrect challenges for each team in the game and then they get no more. That way they would only be used for obvious mistakes or crucial decisions. The captain must notify the ref of a challenge immediately. And if the video ref cannot definitely say that the ref has made a mistake after two looks, the decision stands.

A challenge system with these rules could really clean up the mistakes made by refs in the game and would also not slow the game down too much. If the NRL decides on a challenge system they must get it right.

As for video ref mistakes, Gus Gould has made a good point many times, that there should be an ex player in the box aiding with decisions.