Phil Clarke wonders what constitutes an overseas player, and praises St Helens' consistency.
Phil talks overseas players, referees and St Helens
We are in the midst of a thrilling Super League XVI season - and Phil Clarke is waiting for YOUR questions.
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Refereeing errors
Phil, When you see some referees this season can you see the distinct lack of consistency in decisions? When one referee would give something like the incident on Sunday with Henderson throwing Delaney off the tackle as a penalty every time, another would not; it's stupid that they aren't all going by one rule book. I also think that coaches should be able to comment on referee's performances and that if a referee has a string of poor games, they should be demoted until they improve. What are your views? Josh Dixon
PHIL REPLIES: I think what you are seeing is human error and it happens in all walks of life. I don't think that referees have massively different interpretations of the rules; they just miss things from time to time. It is very rare for two referees to award a different decision if they see the incident exactly the same.
Most of the time they have less than a second to make a decision. The ball may have ricocheted off several players and the officials have to decide what to award. Occasionally the referee is unsighted and reliant on the touch judge for an important call. If the touch judge remains silent the referee can be made to look stupid as he has to make a decision without the right information.
There is one rule book but even that has its flaws. I wrote last week how it needs to be updated and how the game needs to decide the future interpretation of its rules. Do we want to alter the rules regarding the play-the-ball or simply allow the players to roll it backwards between their legs without the ball touching the foot or the heel?
I can't see the benefit of allowing a coach or player to publically criticise a referee's performance. I like the level of respect that we have within the game and do not want to see this diminish. Sport plays an important role in society and, in my opinion, it's essential that we do all that we can to maintain, and increase, the level of respect that people have for each other. It will make your street, country and world a better place to live in.
There are a growing number of competent referees who will soon be capable of refereeing at the highest level. This will then provide more competition and allow for some to be 'demoted' in your words should the ones below them perform better and more consistently.
We don't have a long list of people keen enough or fit enough to want to referee, so we can't be too critical or we'll turn off the few that we have.
I'd like to ask if you scrutinise the individual performance of the 17 players in your favourite team each week as closely as that of the referee?
Foreign or not?
Hi Phil, St Helens have signed Anthony Laffranchi for the 2012 season but as he has an EU passport, will he count on the overseas quota as we already have Josh Perry, Chris Flannery, Francis Meli, Lance Hohaia and Sia Soliola. Can you explain the overseas rule please? Jon
PHIL REPLIES: This isn't an easy subject so you will have to concentrate. You used to have to be a member of MENSA to understand the overseas quota but they've simplified it since then. Below are the official 2012 quota rules. They are the same in 2012 as 2011.
We need to start by defining what an overseas player is. The rules state that an overseas player is one who cannot produce satisfactory evidence to the RFL that he is a professional player in accordance with the EU rules guaranteeing the free movement of workers and that either:
1. He is an EU national; or
2. He has a validated work permit as a professional rugby league player and is a national of a country which is party to either an Association Agreement, Europe Agreement or the Cotonou Agreement with the EU; or
3. He is a national of a country which is a current full or associate member of the RLEF (i.e. our European RUGBY LEAGUE Federation) and has been resident in that country for four years and is a bona fide registered player who has played a maximum of five domestic league or cup games in a domestic competition in that member's country.
For the avoidance of doubt a national is defined as a person who holds a current passport for an EU member state of a country party to an Association Agreement, Europe Agreement or the Cotonau Agreement as appropriate.
One of the reasons for the rules above is to provide a performance pathway for talented players from domestic competitions in RLEF member countries. At this stage we haven't seen a lot of this happening, but I am aware that some clubs like St Helens, who tend to be one step ahead of the rest, are starting to look for what we could call 'project players' in other European rugby league playing countries.
We also hear about players qualifying on residency grounds when they have been here for a while. In this respect the rules state that a player who can prove to the RFL's satisfaction that he has been resident in the EU for an aggregate of 270 days in each of five years prior to 31st December 2002 shall not be deemed as an overseas player.
The rules state that unless given special exemption by the RFL Board, a club in Super League is allowed a maximum of five overseas players.
I suppose that in some ways I've answered your question and in others not.
Things like the Cotonou Agreement, which was initially a trade agreement between developing countries and the EU, have an impact on the overseas quota in Super League. It involves a relationship between the EU and 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific countries. Only when you start to read into this and look at the development, economic, trade and political dimensions to the agreement do you start to realise how small the overseas quota in rugby league is on a world stage.
I do not know the detailed aspects of every player at your club, where they were born, grew up etc, nor which passport they hold. Either way, your favourite club have a great track record of recruiting players who are successful in the UK. I hope that you've found another.
Cross-code promotion
Phil, with rugby league being played in the summer months and rugby union the winter, why don't both try to promote each other's code for the benefit of both against bigger sports like football?
Also, just a question / comment about St Helens. They are third in the table with the knowledge that Kyle Eastmond and James Graham are going next season, while they are also playing in a ground away from home. Obviously they are used to this now, however, they couldn't have been for the first few games of the season. I think next season and especially the season after they will be riding high once again. I can't see them getting into the final this year and maybe not even next year, but I must congratulate them for how well they are doing under such difficult circumstances. Given this, I think Royce Simmons needs at least a three-year contract to make his mark.
On one final note, I would like to ask what do you think about the knock-on situation? At best it is subjective. What do you think about a knock on being awarded on a 'ball to ground' basis, whether it be forward or backwards? This would take away any confusion / debate. I can't see any disadvantage in this. The rule could obviously be disregarded in the 'in goal' area where a defending player knocks the ball dead or off a kick where a player prevents the ball from going into touch. Your comments warmly appreciated. Paul Thwaites
PHIL REPLIES: Your idea of cross promotion is an interesting one and has to a certain extent been attempted by Harlequins over the last few years. It's unfair to describe one code as summer and the other as winter. June and July are probably the only two months when union doesn't take place much in the UK. Elite rugby league takes a break in December and January.
What's interesting is the subject of whether they are in competition with one another or not. The daily newspapers sometimes make us feel that its football against all of the other sports put together. The round ball game gets the back six pages and all the other sports/games/pastimes compete for the next six pages before you get to the crosswords and Sudoku puzzles.
I've not heard a great deal about the successes and failures of the tie up between the Harlequins rugby union team and the Harlequins rugby league one. I can't imagine that a high percentage of the fans attend both, just as a small percentage of Wigan Athletic fans go to watch Wigan Warriors. Is that because fans only have so much time to follow a team or is it that they only have so much disposable income?
Imagine if a new basketball team started to play near to your home now and the biggest stars from the NBA came to play for that team. Would you start to go to watch them? Are people's opinions and interest in a certain sport set at either any early age or within the first thirty minutes of watching the sport?
Moving on to your point about St Helens, I couldn't agree more. They are a remarkable club. I tipped them to win this year's Grand Final in February. If you think back over say the last 16 years to the start of Super League and a little bit further before that as well, they are by far the most consistent club in the UK.
During that period, Wigan, Leeds and Bradford have all been Champions and have all had their periods when they've fallen down the league ladder. The Rhinos struggled in 1996 and 1997, and currently sit 7th. Wigan went into decline after 2000 and were almost relegated in 2006 and the Bradford Bulls are just starting to come out of a five year decline but currently lie 10th out of 14 teams. The one constant club have been St Helens. Different players, different coaches, different owners and management and even a different ground haven't prevented them from winning more games than they've lost.
I like your idea on the rules and will forward it onto the RFL. It is something that we should attempt to improve.
P.S. For those who have asked me, I am not have never been on the social media site called Twitter. Anybody purporting to be me is a fake and I do not condone, accept or agree with any of their comments or 'Tweets'.
