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Fans lose faith in Finch's men
REFEREES boss Robert Finch is fighting to save his job, with NRL chief executive David Gallop declaring there would be a complete review of the whistle-blowers' ranks at the end of this season.
However, Gallop's pledge to fix rugby league's biggest problem - the standard of refereeing - might be too little, too late for disgruntled fans.
Almost 7000 fans took part in The Sunday Telegraph's exclusive online poll, with more than 80 per cent believing their team's finals hopes could be cruelled by refereeing blunders.
The survey also revealed:
* A high percentage of fans say Brian Smith deserves to be named Dally M coach of the year, edging out St George Illawarra's Wayne Bennett, despite the Roosters not yet cementing a finals berth;
* Dragons fullback Darius Boyd should win the Dally M player of the year over the Roosters' Todd Carney;
* The controversial two-referee system should stay;
* The NRL should replace golden-point extra time with golden-try during the finals series, and;
* The Central Coast should be the next team included in the NRL.
A series of embarrassing blunders by match officials has placed Finch under pressure to keep his job.
The suspension of video referee Bill Harrigan following his shocking decision to award the Dragons' Mark Gasnier a try against Manly two weeks ago is believed to be the major reason behind the NRL's push for an overhaul of the referee ranks.
Gallop responded to the overwhelming dissatisfaction of referees by promising fans there would be an internal review after the grand final.
"We will be reviewing the referees' structure at the end of the season," Gallop said.
"By their [referees] own admission they've had a challenging year, but the competition is tight and they are making thousands of calls in a high-pressure environment.
"The standard of the football and the excitement around the finals is enormous and the referees will play a big role in that."
There were several tight calls for fans, with Bennett just pipping Smith when it came to the Dally M coach of the year award.Melbourne fullback Billy Slater was rated the game's best player, ahead of Test captain Darren Lockyer.
Gallop also weighed into the biggest issues to emerge from the poll, including the call by over 68 per cent of fans for golden-point extra time to be replaced by a golden-try in finals.
The NRL boss suggested that after receiving only a lukewarm response from club coaches and officials this year, the change was unlikely to occur.
"We've looked at it before and we don't believe that would be a satisfactory answer," Gallop said. "It has been pretty much overwhelmingly rejected at our coaches' conferences."
The call for expansion also evoked strong reaction from fans in the survey.
Given the results, they are clearly eager to see the Central Coast admitted to the competition in 2012.
Some 73 per cent of fans believed the NRL was ready to support a new team, with 53 per cent believing it should be based on the Central Coast.
"Central Coast is certainly one of the leading contenders. We've said that we'll look at expansion again in the middle of 2011," Gallop said.
"It will be an interesting decision if the game was to decide to expand, whether to put a new team into a new area such as Perth or look to the heartland area like the Central Coast.
"It's also possible that two teams could be admitted to keep the competition even. But we're also focused on the need to grow money for our existing clubs and players."
REFEREES boss Robert Finch is fighting to save his job, with NRL chief executive David Gallop declaring there would be a complete review of the whistle-blowers' ranks at the end of this season.
However, Gallop's pledge to fix rugby league's biggest problem - the standard of refereeing - might be too little, too late for disgruntled fans.
Almost 7000 fans took part in The Sunday Telegraph's exclusive online poll, with more than 80 per cent believing their team's finals hopes could be cruelled by refereeing blunders.
The survey also revealed:
* A high percentage of fans say Brian Smith deserves to be named Dally M coach of the year, edging out St George Illawarra's Wayne Bennett, despite the Roosters not yet cementing a finals berth;
* Dragons fullback Darius Boyd should win the Dally M player of the year over the Roosters' Todd Carney;
* The controversial two-referee system should stay;
* The NRL should replace golden-point extra time with golden-try during the finals series, and;
* The Central Coast should be the next team included in the NRL.
A series of embarrassing blunders by match officials has placed Finch under pressure to keep his job.
The suspension of video referee Bill Harrigan following his shocking decision to award the Dragons' Mark Gasnier a try against Manly two weeks ago is believed to be the major reason behind the NRL's push for an overhaul of the referee ranks.
Gallop responded to the overwhelming dissatisfaction of referees by promising fans there would be an internal review after the grand final.
"We will be reviewing the referees' structure at the end of the season," Gallop said.
"By their [referees] own admission they've had a challenging year, but the competition is tight and they are making thousands of calls in a high-pressure environment.
"The standard of the football and the excitement around the finals is enormous and the referees will play a big role in that."
There were several tight calls for fans, with Bennett just pipping Smith when it came to the Dally M coach of the year award.Melbourne fullback Billy Slater was rated the game's best player, ahead of Test captain Darren Lockyer.
Gallop also weighed into the biggest issues to emerge from the poll, including the call by over 68 per cent of fans for golden-point extra time to be replaced by a golden-try in finals.
The NRL boss suggested that after receiving only a lukewarm response from club coaches and officials this year, the change was unlikely to occur.
"We've looked at it before and we don't believe that would be a satisfactory answer," Gallop said. "It has been pretty much overwhelmingly rejected at our coaches' conferences."
The call for expansion also evoked strong reaction from fans in the survey.
Given the results, they are clearly eager to see the Central Coast admitted to the competition in 2012.
Some 73 per cent of fans believed the NRL was ready to support a new team, with 53 per cent believing it should be based on the Central Coast.
"Central Coast is certainly one of the leading contenders. We've said that we'll look at expansion again in the middle of 2011," Gallop said.
"It will be an interesting decision if the game was to decide to expand, whether to put a new team into a new area such as Perth or look to the heartland area like the Central Coast.
"It's also possible that two teams could be admitted to keep the competition even. But we're also focused on the need to grow money for our existing clubs and players."
perhaps more drags took the poll to give it to Boyd.
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