Referee Ben Thaler returns to Super League this weekend
Tuesday 5 April 2016 16:39, UK
Leading referee Ben Thaler will be back in Super League this week after being dropped for round nine following his controversial handling of Catalans Dragons' home game against Castleford.
Thaler, who refereed both the Challenge Cup final and the Grand Final in 2015, appeared to question the actions of video referee Thierry Alibert during the live televised game in Perpignan on Easter Monday.
He was subsequently left off the Super League panel by the Rugby Football League's head of match officials Steve Ganson and instead was given charge of a Championship match last Sunday, while part-time referee Gareth Hewer took charge of Catalans' home game against Widnes.
Thaler has now been allocated Friday's Sky live game between Warrington and St Helens, but another full-time official, James Child, will officiate a Championship fixture, while Hewer retains his place on the Super League panel.
Live First Utility Super League
An RFL spokesperson said: "We have now expanded our full-time squad of match officials. This provides competition to perform which in turn raises the standard of officiating.
"The performance of each referee is reviewed following every round of the First Utility Super League and games are allocated based on merit.
"The referees are held accountable for their performance by Steve Ganson and the natural consequence of a poor performance, which includes the proper use of protocols, would be reflected in the following week's fixture appointment.
"We do not comment on the appointment of referees for specific games but we would add that with the introduction of the new Middle 8s play-off system, using our most experienced match officials in Kingstone Press Championship matches helps them to build a rapport with players and teams that may be involved in some of the highest profile games towards the end of the year."
