I thought the same problems were on display then tbh, the game would have been ten times faster had it been allowed to be. There was loads of niggling going on and its more the fact of he doesnt seem to know when a tackles been completed

Thaler is the worst ref for the whistle imo

im not too sure about this, but were the play the ball rules changed for this one off game? i know that melbourne had a meeting with the ref before the game to go over the rules.

Surely the time allowed to hold down must have been discussed because it was farcical at times during the game.

that tactic slowed leeds down and basically stopped the opportunity to do quick runs from dummy half.

What would have been a great game was spoiled by the constant slowing down by melbourne and by the ref for allowing them to do this

All this would be sorted if there was an international body strong enough to implement and agree on a set of rulings that are used in all competitions throughout the world. This international/NRL/SL rules thing is an absolute joke and therein lies the problem. Would not happen in any other sport.

halibut and the child are much worse.

I think whoever had been the ref was in for a hard time.

Silverwood had to sing off two hymn sheets. I thought he did well considering the circumstances, can you imagine what the game had been like if the French bloke had been in the middle.

Yes, the Aussies were slow at the ruck, but, they were only waiting for instructions from the ref to move.

Leeds lost because they blew too many chances, not because of Mr Silverwood.

Leeds complaining about the very tactics they have used for the past 3 years.

At the end of the day, they were a "lucky" offside decision by the VR in the Grand Final - and they were "lucky" with an offside decision by the VR in the WCC, so I have no sympathy for them (Senior in particular).

Amen , brother !!

I'd very much agree with that.

Players know better than to attack the referee verbally it has never and never will be allowed in the game and rightly so.

this from a team who have got away with the bullying tatics for years, the only diff is the rfl has let them get away with it.

Quote ="MattyB"Just logging on to ebay now I assume! '" www.ipetitions.com/petition/seni ... edslapped/

Quote ="MattyB"Just logging on to ebay now I assume! '" www.ipetitions.com/petition/seni ... edslapped/

Shame when your fined for speaking the truth! Game was that slow I thought I had tuned in to a rerun of a 1980's game!

Out of interest. The fact that the Referees controller pointed out the rules of the game after the GF in relation to offside/onside, and declared the GF try a legitimate try, seemed to have been lost on you. The same exact same interpretation was again evident last night and you complain again. Incidentally its the same video ref. If only the man in the middle showed the same level of consistency.

Leeds didn't lose the game on a refs decision.

They lost it because despite great defense, they gave a silly penalty away that got Storm upfield to get field position for their try and mouthed off at the referee to give away a penalty. Amazing as it may seem Keith Senior wasn't reffing the game and didn't have a right to abuse the official.

Leeds were off side when tackling Storm winger in to touch.....no one complaining about that.

The ruck was frustrating but Leeds benefitted from the referees "style" as much as Storm. Maybe with the exception of the late tackle (but if he didn't see it he didn't see it!?!)

The correct team won.

AND now that I think of it, Leeds also got away lightly when JJB pushed the ref out of the way. If he was as pedantic as some say, JJB could have been sent off for that.

I think that Keith Senior is right about the incident when he was penalized. He got up to try and play the ball and was still being interfered with. It should have been a penalty to Leeds.

However, I think that Melbourne Storm played to the rules better. Their tackling technique was spot on. As a result they controlled the ruck, and stayed with the rules by moving off as soon as the ref asked them to.

I don’t know if the ref was acting under international rules, but he did seem to take his time before shouting held and Moooooooove!

Leeds needed to adapt to it rather than getting angry at the ref. Melbourne Storm did, and it won them the game.

To me it was clever players who worked out quickly what was going on and reacted accordingly against a set of players who didn't, couldn't, wouldn't or had the nounce to change.

Physically, not a lot of difference.

Mentally one team left the others standing (and wondering)!!!

Is that right bilko? Spear tackles all round then is it mate?

Hock got sinbinned and then a several game ban just for grabbing the arm of the ref, and quite right too. Didn't see many Leeds fans standing up for Hock at the time.

Melbourne adapted to the interpretation, Leeds didn't, as he reffed both ways exactly the same, so Leeds have nobody but themselves to blame.

But he shouldnt have reffed that way, this isn't 2007 and the Storm knew Silverwood would crack under pressure

you will really struggle to find any Leeds fans blaming the ref for the loss but some of his calls were out of left field! Look north/sls presenter and massive bulls fan harry grashon refered to the refs performance as interesting?

Leeds lost the game because Webb didn't ground the ball, watkins didn't ground the ball twice and senior couldnt keep his mouth shut.

but the spear tackle off the ball on buderus should have been a red! Worse than scutons on kfc.

Melbourne didnt play the rules better, they played the ref better. Either I got used to the slow play the ball as the game went on or Silverwood speeded up(not to fast but to jog from dead slow ahead for the first 20 mins).
Surely if ALL refs used the same interpretation of the rules(its not the Quran), shouted held immediately that a player is held or his ball carrying arm hits the deck, then ALL allowed a consistent time for defenders to clear the ruck, both the players and the fans wouldnt get so narked with them. I've never witnessed anything as slow as last night in the superleague era.

Dico the Ref did nothing wrong tonight it was the Leeds ball carriers,if you watch the game again the Leeds players were surendering in the collision which means the tacklers are allowed longer in the tackle,so mate watch the tape and you will hear Silverwood shouting this out quite a lot.I know the Leeds players were trying for quick play the balls but if the Ref shouts surrender thats what happens.

It was borderline whether or not it was worth a penalty. It was barely late, to the extent that you'd have a hard time arguing that he wasn't already committed to making the tackle, and it wasn't a spear tackle.