Tweet
The NRL referees boss tells Daniel Lane player dissent won't be tolerated this season.
THE SUN-HERALD: Is the rule book or you the referee's best friend?
BILL HARRIGAN: I am. I'm the best friend, and I've told them that. When I first addressed the referees as a group I said the best thing was for them to have me in the role as co-coach [with Stuart Raper] because I've been there, done that, copped the hard knocks, bounced back, and I know what it's like to cop the criticism.
SH: Would you introduce an official referee rating?
BH: No. People have a fair idea about that, it's an unwritten thing. One thing you'll see this year is the top four referees won't only do the top four games. It's unfair to the clubs ranked 14th, 15th and 16th to get the lower-ranked refs every week. All appointments will be based on performance. If the No.1 referee is not a big name but he's the No.1 man at the time of City-Country or Origin he'll get the game. I won't care what his experience is.
SH: Do you have a no-recrimination policy for a ref who has a sore point to discuss with you?
BH: I do. We've got rid of the leadership group, I'm not a believer in the leadership group. I'm an open door man. I've told the referees if they have a problem they're to talk to me. It'll be face to face and there'll be no recriminations. Integrity is above all else for me.
SH: Will you encourage individualism among the referees?
BH: I've told the referees they need to come up with their own edge. Brett Suttor has asked whether I'm OK with his scruffy look and beard because he's copped flak over it. I have no problem, so long as he referees the house down. I've told Brett if he [doesn't], he might want to look at his beard.
SH: You drew up a model for the
two-referee system 10 years ago.
Is it working?
BH: It fell down last year. We tampered with it too much. I don't think people have a true understanding of it and how it works. The first year was a honeymoon period but we tampered with it and it didn't work. Robert Finch [ex-referees' boss], the other coaches and myself admitted that. Stuart Raper and I have taken it back to the basics.
SH: You've made player dissent towards referees an issue. Was it out of control?
BH: Yes. I've spoken to Jared Maxwell about this, so I'm not talking out of school. He had a run in with [Manly's] Steve Matai last year and Matai walked away three times when he was talking to him. Matai should've been told to keep walking. It sends out a message. We said to all the referees as a result of that there was a zero tolerance, but we had two instances with Johnathan Thurston, and another when Sharks forward Paul Gallen called Maxwell a ''cheat''. While that was an automatic send-off, all the ref did was penalise him. Those blokes should've been dropped for a lack of action. When they went to the judiciary the question asked was why didn't the referees take firmer action? They were right. They'll do it this year. If they don't [they'll be dropped to lower grades]. It's not refereeing under fear, it's basic refereeing. You don't cop dissent.
SH: You're committed to policing the play-the-ball and goal-line drop-outs. Are you prepared for the grand final to be decided by a sloppy play-the-ball?
BH: I hope it's not. I'd hope after 26 rounds - and finals - that by the time we reach the grand final players realise it won't be accepted. I hope they realise that by round two. When I refereed the players realised ''this bastard will penalise us if we're offside''. When they had other referees the refs weren't as strict and they'd get away with it. Now there's going to be 16 ''bastards'' penalising them for being offside, and we have told the referees to stick with it.
SH: This crackdown seems at odds with your own personal style of refereeing. You always liked a free-flowing game, with minute penalty counts.
BH: The main difference is when I refereed and said ''get back 10 metres with me'' I had that respect - and I'd earned it - and they [would all say to one another] ''get back because he'll penalise us''. With the 16 referees doing the same thing this year, the players will hopefully say to each other to stay onside or play the ball properly otherwise they will be pinged.
SH: Why is the play-the-ball suddenly so important?
BH: We've listened to the fans. The fans are saying to us ''why do we have scrums?'' ''Why do these blokes just step over the ball?'' They say footy was about playing the ball properly with the foot, footy was about playing the ball where you were tackled and footy was about proper scrums, though we're not going to put the ball in the middle, there hasn't been a ball in the middle for 20 years.
THE SUN-HERALD: Is the rule book or you the referee's best friend?
BILL HARRIGAN: I am. I'm the best friend, and I've told them that. When I first addressed the referees as a group I said the best thing was for them to have me in the role as co-coach [with Stuart Raper] because I've been there, done that, copped the hard knocks, bounced back, and I know what it's like to cop the criticism.
SH: Would you introduce an official referee rating?
BH: No. People have a fair idea about that, it's an unwritten thing. One thing you'll see this year is the top four referees won't only do the top four games. It's unfair to the clubs ranked 14th, 15th and 16th to get the lower-ranked refs every week. All appointments will be based on performance. If the No.1 referee is not a big name but he's the No.1 man at the time of City-Country or Origin he'll get the game. I won't care what his experience is.
SH: Do you have a no-recrimination policy for a ref who has a sore point to discuss with you?
BH: I do. We've got rid of the leadership group, I'm not a believer in the leadership group. I'm an open door man. I've told the referees if they have a problem they're to talk to me. It'll be face to face and there'll be no recriminations. Integrity is above all else for me.
SH: Will you encourage individualism among the referees?
BH: I've told the referees they need to come up with their own edge. Brett Suttor has asked whether I'm OK with his scruffy look and beard because he's copped flak over it. I have no problem, so long as he referees the house down. I've told Brett if he [doesn't], he might want to look at his beard.
SH: You drew up a model for the
two-referee system 10 years ago.
Is it working?
BH: It fell down last year. We tampered with it too much. I don't think people have a true understanding of it and how it works. The first year was a honeymoon period but we tampered with it and it didn't work. Robert Finch [ex-referees' boss], the other coaches and myself admitted that. Stuart Raper and I have taken it back to the basics.
SH: You've made player dissent towards referees an issue. Was it out of control?
BH: Yes. I've spoken to Jared Maxwell about this, so I'm not talking out of school. He had a run in with [Manly's] Steve Matai last year and Matai walked away three times when he was talking to him. Matai should've been told to keep walking. It sends out a message. We said to all the referees as a result of that there was a zero tolerance, but we had two instances with Johnathan Thurston, and another when Sharks forward Paul Gallen called Maxwell a ''cheat''. While that was an automatic send-off, all the ref did was penalise him. Those blokes should've been dropped for a lack of action. When they went to the judiciary the question asked was why didn't the referees take firmer action? They were right. They'll do it this year. If they don't [they'll be dropped to lower grades]. It's not refereeing under fear, it's basic refereeing. You don't cop dissent.
SH: You're committed to policing the play-the-ball and goal-line drop-outs. Are you prepared for the grand final to be decided by a sloppy play-the-ball?
BH: I hope it's not. I'd hope after 26 rounds - and finals - that by the time we reach the grand final players realise it won't be accepted. I hope they realise that by round two. When I refereed the players realised ''this bastard will penalise us if we're offside''. When they had other referees the refs weren't as strict and they'd get away with it. Now there's going to be 16 ''bastards'' penalising them for being offside, and we have told the referees to stick with it.
SH: This crackdown seems at odds with your own personal style of refereeing. You always liked a free-flowing game, with minute penalty counts.
BH: The main difference is when I refereed and said ''get back 10 metres with me'' I had that respect - and I'd earned it - and they [would all say to one another] ''get back because he'll penalise us''. With the 16 referees doing the same thing this year, the players will hopefully say to each other to stay onside or play the ball properly otherwise they will be pinged.
SH: Why is the play-the-ball suddenly so important?
BH: We've listened to the fans. The fans are saying to us ''why do we have scrums?'' ''Why do these blokes just step over the ball?'' They say footy was about playing the ball properly with the foot, footy was about playing the ball where you were tackled and footy was about proper scrums, though we're not going to put the ball in the middle, there hasn't been a ball in the middle for 20 years.
Comment