Todd Greenberg is a fool

[The Lip]

Sorry but reading of this I have to ask these questions (as I did start this debate);

1. Does Greenberg and the Referee's train in the heat of the summer nearly 5 days a week to prepare their bodies for the impact and speed of the competition;
2. Do they know what it is like to tackle and run your hearts out until you are out of breath?;
3. Has Greenberg ever put his body on the line physically to defend his man next to him, and cover for his team (Just look at what happen with John Grant)....

FLANAGAN HAD EVERY RIGHT TO SAY WHAT HE SAID!!!!!!!!

Yeah sure his team made errors, and gave away penalties, had a pathetic first half... HOWEVER, if anyone who has played the game or any team sport knows that if you fight hard enough and rectify your issues and errors on the field to put yourself in a position to win the match JUST LIKE THE SHARKS DID!!!!! Then to me the rules are not simply black and white anymore and the officials should have a feel for the game in order to put their whistles away and use their game management skills to keep control NOT TO BLOW THE CRAP OUT OF IT ESPECIALLY IN THE SECOND HALF!!!

Our game on Friday had only penalties, which I would expect to see in Finals Footy. All the other games, including the Sharks had double that which is disgraceful as that is telling me the Referees in those games never had control of the game, and did not manage nor get a feel for finals footy. The Walker No Try was a turning point as Penrith were shot to crap at that stage, Manly would have run away with it....

Greenberg and the Referee's cannot understand what the players do and feel on the field at most times as I totally agree with Phil Rothfield's assessment.

This just out on the nrl site

" the NRL issues Nathan Aboud with an infringement notice. The NRL accepts this is an unprecedented stance but feels the need to go to these lengths due to the unprecedented use of bolding and capitals in Nathan's post on the Chookpen forum not to mention being cited for overuse of underlying in said post. The NRL will continue to go to these lengths to protect the integrity of the referees and administration of the game.

Nathan Aboud has five days to respond to the above breach or accept the $30,000 fine."

[The Lip]

This just out on the nrl site

" the NRL issues Nathan Aboud with an infringement notice. The NRL accepts this is an unprecedented stance but feels the need to go to these lengths due to the unprecedented use of bolding and capitals in Nathan's post on the Chookpen forum not to mention being cited for overuse of underlying in said post. The NRL will continue to go to these lengths to protect the integrity of the referees and administration of the game.

Nathan Aboud has five days to respond to the above breach or accept the $30,000 fine."

Update on the above

"NRL has increased Mr Abouds fine to $160,000 after it was discovered after further views from the bunker that Mr Aboud also overused increasing font sizes on multiple occasions within said post ($10,000) and he has also been fined $10,000 for every exclamation mark that the bunker determined was additional to requirements within Mr Abouds post totalling an additional $120,000 for that offence. The NRL accepts that three exclamation marks were required within the post but the other 12 were surplus to requirements and brought further disrepute to the NRL and the referees."

[The Axe]

Some really good perspectives.

what I can add beyond what's previously pointed out....

i watched the swans smash their opposition last weekend. Results like this are not allowed / rarely occur in nrl.. i think this supports the arguement that refs in our sport have a greater power to influence a game. Whilst the rules support this and whilst the sport is tarred with gambling, there is every reason to question the integrity of the product

[The ticket]

Sorry but reading of this I have to ask these questions (as I did start this debate);

1. Does Greenberg and the Referee's train in the heat of the summer nearly 5 days a week to prepare their bodies for the impact and speed of the competition;
2. Do they know what it is like to tackle and run your hearts out until you are out of breath?;
3. Has Greenberg ever put his body on the line physically to defend his man next to him, and cover for his team (Just look at what happen with John Grant)....

FLANAGAN HAD EVERY RIGHT TO SAY WHAT HE SAID!!!!!!!!

Yeah sure his team made errors, and gave away penalties, had a pathetic first half... HOWEVER, if anyone who has played the game or any team sport knows that if you fight hard enough and rectify your issues and errors on the field to put yourself in a position to win the match JUST LIKE THE SHARKS DID!!!!! Then to me the rules are not simply black and white anymore and the officials should have a feel for the game in order to put their whistles away and use their game management skills to keep control NOT TO BLOW THE CRAP OUT OF IT ESPECIALLY IN THE SECOND HALF!!!

Our game on Friday had only penalties, which I would expect to see in Finals Footy. All the other games, including the Sharks had double that which is disgraceful as that is telling me the Referees in those games never had control of the game, and did not manage nor get a feel for finals footy. The Walker No Try was a turning point as Penrith were shot to crap at that stage, Manly would have run away with it....

Greenberg and the Referee's cannot understand what the players do and feel on the field at most times as I totally agree with Phil Rothfield's assessment.

Nope
1. Whether you agree or not with the referees descisions the Sharks were not good enough to win that game
2. Of course the refs arent players, dont train the same way and, most importantly shouldnt care how players or coaches feel - they need to ref the game as they see it according to current rules
3. Fans have every right to say what Flanagan did but as an NRL coach Flanagan has a responsibility to behave like a grown up - he deserves the fine

[ism22]

Update on the above

"NRL has increased Mr Abouds fine to $160,000 after it was discovered after further views from the bunker that Mr Aboud also overused increasing font sizes on multiple occasions within said post ($10,000) and he has also been fined $10,000 for every exclamation mark that the bunker determined was additional to requirements within Mr Abouds post totalling an additional $120,000 for that offence. The NRL accepts that three exclamation marks were required within the post but the other 12 were surplus to requirements and brought further disrepute to the NRL and the referees."

As part of the punishment, Mr Aboud will be forced to either shave his entire top lip or grow it all out. The stupid hairless bit just on top of his lip HAS TO GO!!

[Bondicigar]

If fans or coaches are not happy with the refs the bunker or Todd Greenberg then go & follow another game. I'm sick to death of all the whinging. The game is fantastic yet a lot of people just want to find the negative in the game.
There is no such thing as perfection, players & coaches stuff up all the time & if this constant negativity of decisions keeps up there will be no game because there will be no refs & no administration of the game.

Well said mickie , you never hear winners complaining

[Dummy half]

i'll say it again, if that was us against the cows, you'd all be screaming, we need Ron Casey back, the only guy in the media that ever stood up for us, and gave it to the refs when they deserved it.
Btw, hilarious comment lip.

[mightyrooster]

i'll say it again, if that was us against the cows, you'd all be screaming, we need Ron Casey back, the only guy in the media that ever stood up for us, and gave it to the refs when they deserved it.
Btw, hilarious comment lip.

Not if we played as poorly as the Sharks did.

[milanja]

Sorry but reading of this I have to ask these questions (as I did start this debate);

1. Does Greenberg and the Referee's train in the heat of the summer nearly 5 days a week to prepare their bodies for the impact and speed of the competition;
2. Do they know what it is like to tackle and run your hearts out until you are out of breath?;
3. Has Greenberg ever put his body on the line physically to defend his man next to him, and cover for his team (Just look at what happen with John Grant)....

FLANAGAN HAD EVERY RIGHT TO SAY WHAT HE SAID!!!!!!!!

Yeah sure his team made errors, and gave away penalties, had a pathetic first half... HOWEVER, if anyone who has played the game or any team sport knows that if you fight hard enough and rectify your issues and errors on the field to put yourself in a position to win the match JUST LIKE THE SHARKS DID!!!!! Then to me the rules are not simply black and white anymore and the officials should have a feel for the game in order to put their whistles away and use their game management skills to keep control NOT TO BLOW THE CRAP OUT OF IT ESPECIALLY IN THE SECOND HALF!!!

Our game on Friday had only penalties, which I would expect to see in Finals Footy. All the other games, including the Sharks had double that which is disgraceful as that is telling me the Referees in those games never had control of the game, and did not manage nor get a feel for finals footy. The Walker No Try was a turning point as Penrith were shot to crap at that stage, Manly would have run away with it....

Greenberg and the Referee's cannot understand what the players do and feel on the field at most times as I totally agree with Phil Rothfield's assessment.

I'm sure they also train quite hard, but in turn do the players have to cop the abuse that the refs get from the public? The referees need to be escorted to and from the ground, they need to be shielded when walking up the tunnels because they may get spat on, or a bottle thrown at them, because coaches give it to them in a press conference, and then certain fans think that they have a right to echo the same things publicly.

if you want a lot of these bunker problems fixed, then get rid of it, I've never seen the game in a more controversial state because of video replays, if not, then just watch the replays in normal speed and make the decision based on how the game is actually played.

[Dummy half]

I don't understand why you would want to go back to a single ref, would make the whole thing worse. There was this ref called Greg Hartley, he was even worse than this lot, he would give a team 7 tackle sets whenever he felt they needed it, especially harsh on parra, loved manly. Anyway, he used to love giving scrum penalties for incorrect feed, I can't count how often manly got one to win the game, that's why they changed the scrum rule, and allowed halves to put it in the second row, all because of him, we do not want to go back to that.

[theGman]

Mr Articulate - Sterlo hit the nail on the head tonight.

It's perfectly understandable that coaches go into press conferences within half-an-hour of a game ending, fairly fired up & adrenaline still pumping BUT, all Flanagan had to do from the go get was preface his comments along the lines of............"unfortunately we committed more mistakes than our opposition today OR our ball control and uncharacteristic completion rate didn't help us etc..............
It's called tact and that Shire bogan doesn't know a thing about it.

Suck it up both Manly & Cronulla...........karma's a bitch.
Manly fans remember the hand of Foran in 2011 (or 2012) major semi against the Cowboys!
Peptide fans remember the winning try off the 7th tackle ironically against the Cowboys too! At the time coach Flanagan said, "these things happen". LOL

[mightyrooster]

Mr Articulate - Sterlo hit the nail on the head tonight.

It's perfectly understandable that coaches go into press conferences within half-an-hour of a game ending, fairly fired up & adrenaline still pumping BUT, all Flanagan had to do from the go get was preface his comments along the lines of............"unfortunately we committed more mistakes than our opposition today OR our ball control and uncharacteristic completion rate didn't help us etc..............
It's called tact and that Shire bogan doesn't know a thing about it.

Suck it up both Manly & Cronulla...........karma's a bitch.
Manly fans remember the hand of Foran in 2011 (or 2012) major semi against the Cowboys!
Peptide fans remember the winning try off the 7th tackle ironically against the Cowboys too! At the time coach Flanagan said, "these things happen". LOL

Too right Gman. I see Gallen is still carryoing on about it too. According to him the ref mistakes against his team occurred at crucial times unlike the ones against the cowboys of course. They are both just too arrogant for words.

[King Salvo]

They need to be more transparent with their decisions and explain them better - the Walker Manly no try - did they have TV/Camera coverage with lines to confirm that he didn't have both feet behind the kicker - it was not visible via the reply to see this - I did hear that Archer confirmed that the Sharks should have received 3 Penalties for a Shark player being run off the ball from an attacking kick though- Flanno also has a case with the Maloney being sin binned for a professional foul- the Cowboys player was not in anyway involved in a try scoring moment- A Parramatta player did something similar vs Storm - only a penalty in that case- We would be dirty with such decisions going against the Roosters

[King Salvo]

This is such a complex issue. As an objective watcher of the Sharks / Cowboys game....well ok I wan't really objective in that I wanted the Sharks beaten! But from my point of view I saw the Sharks cop a lot of bad 50/50 calls. I also saw the cowboys cop a few as well. What I also saw was a woeful sharks side who should have been able to beat the Cowboys with what was pretty much their full strength team.

I can understand Flanagan being ropeable with all the calls that went against his team. I was ropeable after the 2010 Grand Final refereeing debacle. But surely he should accept and acknowledge the fact that his team were terrible. Poor completions, missed tackles, error after error. They were aweful. His biggest whinge seemed to be that they should have won the game 'end of story' with a milked Gal penalty at the end. Gallen tried to milk that penalty 100%. The lack of accountability for his player's poor game is what I find really annoying. If they had completed at a higher rate and missed fewer tackles I would say he had a case to whinge but his team was ordinary in all the key stats, just like they have been all year.

Like I mentioned in the other thread on the Sharks presser, he could learn a lesson from the Port Adelaide coach in the AFL. My husband is an AFL fan so I was watching that ending with him after the NRL games on Saturday night. A free kick was given to a West Coast player which gave them victory after the siren. At the time it happened I commented that to me it didn't look too high a tackle. Now I'm not an expert on Aussie Rules but apparently a lot of the experts were saying the same after the game that it was a dud call which in the end cost Port the game. But the Port coach when asked about the free kick said something like, we had plenty of chances before that incident to win but we were extremely poor with our accuracy. No blaming the umpires when he could also see that his side's poor showing is what also contributed to the loss. Flanno on the other hand was saying it was 100% the refs fault that they lost that game. Very poor form Flanno. I could sympathise with with you more if you could bring it upon yourself to admit your team also had many faults. He is basically saying to his players it doesn't matter that you played poorly, the officials cost us the game. Maybe he should have pulled up Maloney a long time ago about giving away deliberate penalties on the line? Then he may not have been a marked man?

So as much as I don't like Greenburg I have to agree with what he said. As a game we need to grow up. Robbo is all class. He coaches a team which has historically received the least amount of penalties every year for many years now. If any coach has a right to continually go off in pressers he does. Yet he chooses to go through the proper channels. Anhd when he did go off in that dragons game I applauded him. Because he doesn't use poor refereeing as an excuse every single time we lose.

AFL have some strange calls for Penalties though - that was a big call with other similar ones not awarded during the game - that is why people get confused/upset - the consistency is not visible

[King Salvo]

I don't understand why you would want to go back to a single ref, would make the whole thing worse. There was this ref called Greg Hartley, he was even worse than this lot, he would give a team 7 tackle sets whenever he felt they needed it, especially harsh on parra, loved manly. Anyway, he used to love giving scrum penalties for incorrect feed, I can't count how often manly got one to win the game, that's why they changed the scrum rule, and allowed halves to put it in the second row, all because of him, we do not want to go back to that.

Especially in the 1981 Major Semi Final - Roosters vs Parramatta - extra time - he awarded Parra two scrum penalties - ended up losing 8-12 - many around me still think that Ronny Giteau's kick to convert the Rocky Laurie try that levelled the game 8-8 during regular time was a goal - Giteau's kicks always went above the posts and was hard for touch judges to rule on- We have played Parramatta 3 times in Finals matches and yet to beat them - 1977 - lost 13-5 / 1981- lost 12-8 and 1982 - lost 33 -0