L.O.L

Or did you mean to say Thaler was brilliant for Wigan at magic weekend when he totally bottled it

I reckon we have a pretty good set of refs at the moment.
I’d say the best two are Silverwood and Thaler, but I think Thaler has come on a bunch, and so he gets my vote.

For the wooden spoon, I don’t think any of the rest are “poor”, so it would be unfair to vote for “the worst”.

Whatever happened to Halibut.

Retired after his seven tackle count incident.

I can't think of any ref that doesn't consistently produce inconsistency in their interpretations and come up with poor decisions every week.

Now in charge of referees in France

Same here. Worst set of refs in years.

Always liked Thaler for last few years, but has become far too lenient in games and loses control.

Silverwood is a joke, as is Hicks.

Think Child has improved immensely from previous, and could end up a good ref next year. Bentham was awful earlier in season, but over last few weeks been fairly impressed with him.

Personally I think Thaler is the best ref by a distance. He seems to create a good relationship with the players on the pitch.

I'd agree with Gotcha re Child. He has improved a huge amount.

My biggest problem is still inconsistency from the refs. I understand that it's incredibly quick and they have literally hundreds of decisions to make every game but it's not the one off decisions that may be right or wrong with the benefit of viewing a replay but the interpretations, both at the play the ball and whether it was stolen/knock-on.

When they're full time those interpretations should be nailed down by the refs during pre-season.
As should how the refs use their touch judges and the VR. There's too much variance on how they're used.

Welcome to the new batch of match officials.

I look forward to seeing your perfect performances in the near future.

Game management makes/breaks a ref. I think silverwood let's the game go far more and it makes a much better game.

However, he makes some right clangers and Friday was a massive example of that (not the red card btw).

Thaler is the best for me by quite some margin; good rapport with the players, maintains a sense of humour and has some bottle. Child is much improved on recent years - far less whistle happy and seems more authoritative.

Hicks and Roby still have a lot to learn.

Maybe it's that I watch the players and not the officials, or maybe I don't have such high standards. However I don't get all this criticism and I certainly don't believe that referees in the NRL are better than our lot.

Silverwood is still pretty reliable in the big games. He is also happy to explain decisions on Twitter. (when often I have incorrectly thought he got a decision wrong)

You're right in that Silverwood let's the game go and it sometimes makes for a better game. Though sometimes it can be frustrating if your team is being held down etc while Silverwood is letting the game go.

Sometimes he takes it too far.

Thaler by far.

Bentham has become far too reliant on video technology, which is disappointing.

Silverwood is inconsistent IMO. Can have a good game one week then a bit of a mare next week.

They are still the best three refs though mainly due to their experience.

Of course it can. We (saints) used that well vs Leeds the other week.

I don't mind a controlled ptb tbh. If the defender wins the tackle they have every right to slow it down IMO. Although I admit that the wrestle in Aus can be seen to be boring as hell

Thaler for me.

TOP 10 SUPER LEAGUE OFFICIALS
1. Thaler
2. Silverwood
3. Bentham
4.
5.
6.70,000 Rugby League fans
7.
8.
9. Stuart Cummins
10. Child/Hicks/Roby/Stokes

Interesting fact:
In 1000th place is Eddie and Stevo who demonstrate in every broadcast that they know Sweet Fanny Adams about the rules of Rugby League (or commentating for that matter)

I personally can't do it anytime soon as I've coaches badges to take because I was critical of Cummins earlier this season. I've also been disappointed with Adam Henry in the Bradford side so I've centre-play to master. Not to mention IS, I've been very critical of them and the governments handling of the situation, so I've a bit of training to do over in the hills of Pakistan.

But after that, and after I've done a week in a British Gas call centre, then I'll do a referees course.

As a Bradford fan, and the Bulls have had Hicks referee 10 (TEN) times in SL this year, then my vote can only go to one man; Thaler. (Who along with Child hasn't refereed a Bulls SL game all season).

Not sure who is the worst but Bentham is absolutely dreadful

Tim Roby!

I'm sorry but "absolutely dreadful" is just a silly position to take. For one thing, he's reffed in SL for ten years or so and his games have seemingly muddled along quite well, so I reckon he must get at least 95% of all the decisions passably correct.

For another, if he is "absolutely dreadful", that's odd for a man given the 2011 and 2013 CCF to ref; wouldn't they have given that to someone who earned it, or at least to someone only pretty dreadful?

I'm with Ganson's Optician. I don't think that many fans actually obsess about refs, and if they watched a game as a neutral they would find that actually the ref is doing overall a bloody good job. But most ref obsessives, like attendance obsessives, tend to congregate on forums.

I do recall though when Bentham got his broken leg, the great round of applause that the fans gave him, as he was stretchered off. To me, while we all enjoy giving stick to the officials, that incident showed better than most things that in fact, the officials in general and Bentham in particular are respected and held in high regard by the substantial majority of fans. Most of the complaints people have it seems to me would be better directed at the RFL edicts that dictate how various aspects of play in games shall be refereed, and anyway as I understand it, the coaches are in on those edicts so they get what they ask for.

I think Bentham has convinced himself a Giants player broke his leg

Perfect opportunity to call him bent and you screwed it up and threw it away.

Surprised Kevin Sinfield hasn't made most peoples lists so far.

Silverwood.

Thaler just likes the sound of his own voice too much. Not his job to be everyone's pal on the field.