Quote ="Red John"This is something Jack Dearden bangs on about on Radio Manchester. Apparently, only having the video ref at certain matches means it's not a level playing field. Since Jack thinks it, it's a pretty safe bet that it's rubbish. And it is. It's a level playing for the two teams involved in a match with a video ref, and it's a level playing field for the two teams involved in a match without one. That's all that matters. in the match with the video ref, each team is as likely as the other to have a try awarded or disallowed on the intervention of the video ref. It has no bearing on other matches.
What would the effect be of having a video ref at every match? Given that each team is as likely as the other to have a try awarded or disallowed by video, how does it affect the outcome over the long term? It doesn't, surely.
When Jacko bangs on about video refs at every match, I end up thinking, "But Jack, different referees see different things. For a level playing field, then, you need the same referee at every game. And the weather has an effect too. Would we have lost our first game at the CoS if a couple of bobbins kick throughs hadn't held up in the snow? Unlikely, so games need to be played in exactly the same weather conditions in order to ensure a level playing field. And pitches. Some have deeper in goal areas than others. Some have corners that turn up like a dried up butty, others don't. So, for this level playing field, we need all matches to be played on the same pitch." And then I switch off, because I can't bear listening to him babble on.'"
I know what you mean John, but I think McManus is saying that the worst thing about the video ref is that it's being used too often by the match official on the park and is detracting away from the speed of the game. The addition this year of the 'Punch and Judy' show (no doubt inspired by some bright spark at Sky) is then further turning the whole thing into a circus and I have to say I agree with his assessment. Let's face it would we all have been upset if we had seen Meli's first try against Wigan allowed, followed by the next Wigan try being allowed in almost exactly the same circumstances? I doubt it, it also meant that all of the subsequent referrals added a significant amount of time where the players and crowd are just kicking their heels waiting for someone to make a decision.
McManus point about reaching a stage where the video ref is overused is correct and he further supposes that perhaps the only way to solve that is to get rid of it entirely. I agree with the former but not necessarily the latter, as I can't see Sky agreeing to it, as it's clear, from the Punch and Judy show, that they see this as a cornerstone of the SL entertainment package.
There don't appear to be any easy answers to this either.
