Stuart Cummings - Sky Sports Expert

Penalty charge

Posted: 26th February 2008 15:35

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Ever been left scratching your head at a decision? Ever wondered just why the whistle went, or why a try was wiped off?

Well, thanks to skysports.com and leading Super League official Stuart Cummings, you need live in the dark no longer!

This week Stuart does his best to clear up confusion on some video refereeing and the way the high penalty counts can stem the flow of open rugby league...

PENALTY CHARGE
Stuart, for me it started to get worse last season. This season, of the TV games I have watched, the penalty count for me is starting to have a detrimental affect on the games fluency. We are averaging a penalty every 3-4 mins in some games. Is this the fault of referees, the players, the rules or all three that is contributing to this? I had an interesting debate with friends who are primarily football supporters, who watch rugby league as a passing interest, and all but one commented about the amount of penalties there are in the game now. Is this an early season blip, or is this a trend for the season do you think? Regards, Colin.

STUART REPLIES: Hi Colin, It is always an interesting debate as to who is responsible for high penalty counts. For my part I can see that referees do not go out to blow as many penalties as they can and they do have a responsibility to manage the game. however referees are also required to be consistent in their application of the laws and we work hard with coaches to try and get a common understanding of the law interpretations.

Last season we averaged around 17 penalties per game. In round three this year the average was 16.5 per game. Early season does have an effect as players get their match-timing right and settle in to any new interpretations.

This year's change in interpretation on the ten metres has caused more penalties in that area this season but I would hope this would reduce as players get used to coming all the way back.

VIDEO NASTY?
Hi Stuart, I wonder what your thoughts were on the video ref's decision not to allow the Warrington try on Friday night. My own opinion was if the video ref wasn't sure after viewing the incident more than a dozen times how can one more look at it convince him it's 'no try'? The fact that he had to look at it so many times and for so long can only suggest he's not sure, therefore logically benefit of doubt should come into play. All round refereeing of that game was terribly biased towards St Helens and I was supporting them; that should tell you everything. Kind Regards, Tammie, Vikings fan.

STUART REPLIES: The video referee has the responsibility to look at all available angles. Sometimes it can take a while to view all the various angles so it doesn't always follow that if he keeps looking at it their must be doubt in his mind.

Very often when viewing an incident it is like putting a jigsaw together. Not all the information you need is one particular angle so you have to piece together bits form several angles. The decision was correct in the end which is the main thing.

Comments

Eddie Howarth says...

why does a player that is put on report not get 10mins in the sin bin the ref thinks a foul has been commited to put him on report in the 1st place and why not get help from the video ref. the defending team get no benefit during the game from the offending team take wigan v leeds 25/09/08 2 leeds players on report but no advantage to wigan who lost the match and leeds go to the final i don't see how that can be fair or just.

Posted 22:21 26th September 2008

Rob Steer says...

Hi Stuart, I'd be interested in your views on the following : I think it would be better if the rules relating to penalties for technical offences, such as offside & not standing square, were changed. Firstly, make them differential penalties only (ie no kicks at goal) - and also abolish kicking to touch for territorial gain. Instead, the referee should just indicate to the teams & spectators via an agreed signal that a differential penalty has been awarded and give the non-offending team an extra 3 tackles in the existing set of 6. This would speed up the game, and also reduce the likelihood of a technical offence deciding the outcome of a game via a penalty kick at goal. More important, it would eliminate the existing unfairness stemming from the fact that currently the penalty suffered for conceding a technical penalty varies depending on when in the tackle count it's committed. So, a team awarded a penalty for offside on the 6th tackle currently gets an extra 6 tackles. But the same offence committed on the first tackle is only rewarded by 1 extra tackle (ie the non-offending side gets an extra 6 tackles - but forfeits the 5 tackles that remained in the existing set). Regards, Rob.

Posted 19:44 17th March 2008

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