Time for Finch to fly the coop

Whilst it was never my intent to start a blog that focuses solely on rugby league-related issues, I guess like most I find that I have much more to say about things that I know a great deal about. So it is that I launch into yet another topic about the greatest sport there is.

I write this particular piece that highlights a negative aspect of the game not because I'm trying to bring it down like all those alleged "journalists" plying their trade in the AFL states, but because I deeply care for the game, and have found this issue to be one of deep frustration.

The issue is Robert Finch's tenure as boss of the referees. To anyone who has taken even a passing interest in the game over the last 10-15 years, it will be painfully obvious that the standard of officiating - at least at an NRL level - is at an all-time low. Not a week, or indeed most of the time not even a match can pass by without a few contentious calls that leave all of us scratching our heads in disbelief. Whether it's something simple - like a penalty being given for a strip despite the ball never leaving the hands of the carrier - or something game changing, like a try being denied despite all available evidence pointing to the contrary, the referees in the game today are simply not up to the job.

It is often said that a game well refereed is one when you don't notice the man in the middle. This season, and probably for the past few, there is literally not a single match you can say that for, and that's sad.

Don't even get me started on the separation vs control debate when it comes to grounding the ball. The fact a player can drop the ball, but still have a finger on it when it touches the turf and be awarded the try is an absolute travesty. But I digress.

Now I understand the pressures these referees are under. Every single decision they make is scrutinised by the fans, the players, the coaches and the media. They're subject to abuse every time they go out with the whistle, be it from the players, or more likely from the crowds, but that's why they're paid the big bucks. They're human, and sure they're going to make mistakes. I don't think I speak out of turn when I say that the game-watching public can deal with that if it happens from time to time. The view of the referee may be blocked and they miss a knock on, for example. It's annoying, but it's something that we can all accept, provided it's not happening constantly. But that's the problem. It is.

So I ask the question: Who does the buck stop with? If it were one or two referees who were consistently bad, consistently getting the decisions wrong, you could explain it away as simply a couple of bad apples. The fact that it appears to be every single one of them leads me to one conclusion: the buck stops with the boss. Step forward, Mr Robert Finch. A man who, having never been a referee in his life, is somehow in control of them at the highest level. A man who has overseen the most dramatic slump in officiating standards in recent memory. A man who has demonstrated a lack of understanding of the rules and the reasons for them. Put simpy, a man unsuited to the job.

Robert Finch is directly responsible for the alarming incompetence of the referees. If his job description is to prepare a squad of referees so that they are competent enough to be given the whistle for a first grade NRL game, then he has failed miserably to meet it. It is for this reason that I say here and now that Robert Finch should resign from his post. Do the honourable thing and walk away. Bring in someone with actual refereeing experience, someone not carrying so much baggage from previous appointments with various clubs. Sure, they may not be any better, but they sure as hell can't be any worse.