Giant gains

Phil Clarke praises Huddersfield's bold decision to slash prices - and answers YOUR questions.

Phil still wants your vote for try of the season

It was fascinating to see the turn-out at Huddersfield for the game against Catalans last week. The hype surrounding the announcement of cut-price season tickets, plus the free admission, attracted more than 12,000 for a team sitting 10th with only nine wins all season. It was a wonderful PR stunt which seemed to go down well with the majority of the audience. By almost halving the price of season tickets and allowing free entry for school children they have taken a bold decision. Even if they double the number of season tickets next year they will still only bring in about the same level of income. At a recent fans' forum in Wigan I heard the chairman, Ian Lenagan, explain to the audience that he needed to increase the income of the club to more than £4 million per year. He has recruited the CEO from Newcastle Falcons in order to do this. The Falcons have about half the number of season ticket holders as Wigan Warriors, but twice their annual income. Some of this is due to greater broadcast revenue, but it's also because the average spend per person is far greater than at a rugby league game. Running a rugby league club is possibly one of the hardest businesses to run. The complaints box is always full and the bank account always empty. Good luck to the Giants with their attempt at a brave new world.

Phil answers your questions...

REFFIN' HELL
Hi Phil, I'd like your thoughts on Ben Thaler's performance on Friday night. Richard Mathers was sent off for leading with the forearm into the tackle against Jason Demitriou - personally I thought that this was a very harsh decision as this happens many times in every single game of RL. Several players wear heavy strapping around their forearms for this purpose. At worst it was a penalty. Demitriou responded by aiming two blows at Mathers' head. Whilst Mathers was sent off, Demitriou escaped unpunished for retaliation. Rewind a week to Bradford vs Leeds and Rob Burrow was sin-binned despite not throwing a punch after being punched and head butted by Michael Platt. The similarity between the two situations? The referee. This for me was the worst decision in a very poor performance by Mr Thaler. Other inconsistencies include: Leo Latu committing three high tackles - one of which was a shocking swinging arm, which in my opinion was worse than the high shot; Wakefield giving away three penalties in three sets for interference and Danny Sculthorpe's punch at Mickey Higham - if Thaler saw the punch, then surely it should have been a sin bin? As I said earlier; Burrow was sin binned last week for much less. Lastly if you watch the Sculthorpe run just before the Danny Brough break that led to a Wakefield try, I think that you will see that Stuart Fielden is caught high (and left groggy) by a leading arm from Sculthorpe - this was completely missed by all three of the officials. You alluded to the fact that Wigan fans feel that the officials are against their team - after watching another dismal performance by the man in the middle on Friday night; I think that it is easy to see why. Up until now, Thaler has been pretty consistent when refereeing Wigan. It is a hard job; however it is one that they are paid to do and I don't think that they should be able to wheel out that excuse every time they have a shocker. Incidently, where is Ben Thaler from? And will Ian Smith ever referee St Helens again? Cheers!
Matthew PHIL REPLIES: I would agree with your point about players often leading into the tackle with the non-carrying arm/elbow, but that doesn't make it right. Your subjective opinion of the incident is probably based on having seen the tackle several times on replay. The referee and his touch judges had to make a decision from just one viewing, which of course means that there is the potential for error. Personally I think that the referees are performing almost to the full ability. I would be fascinated to hear how you think that you would get better ones? They earn less than half of an average player in Super League, have to put up with constant criticism and yet need to maintain a level of fitness which would put them in the top 10% of the nation. I'm not sure if you go to the gym and work out, but did you know that a referee's heart rate averages over 160 beats/minute during a game. Imagine making an important decision when your heart is almost pumping out of your chest. It is interesting to note the number of red cards that the full time referees have shown after 26 rounds this year: Klein = 5 red cards
Ganson = 4 red cards
Bentham = 2 red cards
Smith = 1 red card
Thaler = 1 red card I've heard that many clubs make the players who fail to score a try all season run the length of the field naked - I wonder if the refs have a similar forfeit for red cards?! Don't be surprised if Richard Silverwood proves that he has a red card in the remaining games of the year! In answer to your final questions, I think that Ben Thaler is from Castleford and I can foresee Ian Smith refereeing St Helens again at some time in the future. ONE STRIKE AND OUT?
Phil, do you think the current disciplinary situation regarding 'striking' has gone too far and we are in danger of ending up like football (handbags at 10 paces!)? Don't get me wrong, I am glad the days of 'the fight was interrupted when a game of rugby broke out' have gone, but to get a suspension every time a punch is thrown is too far the other way. I have two main arguments for my case: Many an extremely dull game has come alive after a fight, and there are some players who just need a thump! Jimmy Lowes was a classic example and in today's game, Leon Pryce springs to mind! Whilst on this subject, do you think that when Mathers was sent off on Friday, the Wakefield player should have had 10 minutes for throwing a punch in retaliation? After all Rob Burrows got 10 minutes for head butting Platt's fist!!
Ron Wade, Wigan PHIL REPLIES: I don't think that we have sanitised rugby league too much. It is now faster and more physically demanding than ever before and I applaud the attempt to eradicate high and dangerous tackles from the game. I agree with you about the excitement of a fight. It always used to draw a big crowd on the playground when I was at school and seems to excite the people not involved. However, we cannot really condone that type of behaviour and it is the responsibility of the Disciplinary Committee to punish it. I can't recall seeing too many brawls involving St Helens over the last three years and they have certainly provided some entertainment. Perhaps we should reserve the all-in brawl for Test matches! Your point about the sin bin interests me greatly. For some time now I have been debating the pros/cons of re-introducing a 5 and 10 minute sin bin system. When we first introduced the sin bin into rugby league about 25 years ago, the referee could differentiate depending on the type of the offence. I think that we should discuss the merits of having a ten minute sin bin for high tackles, fighting, foul play etc, and a five minute sin bin for technical offences - holding down at the play-the-ball interference etc. At the moment, a high tackle can result in just a penalty - unless the referee sends him off, which is quite rare. There have been more than 350 penalties for high tackles and only 13 players sent off, two of which have been for dissent. If a player holds down an opponent after making a break for the try line, we often see the player sent to the sin bin for ten minutes. I think that the punishments are disproportionate - I could show you several games in which a team has scored three tries in ten minutes this year. A full review of the sin bin and its effectiveness in promoting a better game should take place at the international level. It's a pity that we don't have an international governing body with the power to look into these matters. Perhaps that could be one of the conclusions from this year's World Cup. RED BULLS?
Hi Phil, as an avid Bradford Bulls fan I am becoming more and more worried by the current state of the club. Looking back to the grand final win three years ago, the squad has got considerably worse since then and they don't look capable of mounting any sort of challenge towards Leeds or St Helens. We have recruited Steve Menzies and if the rumours are true, Nick Scruton for 2009. I still believe we are in need or a centre, winger and pacey stand off. What do you think of the current state of Bradford and can they get back to where they once were in the coming years? Many thanks.
Sean PHIL REPLIES: I think that is amazing that the Bulls are still in the top six when you consider the players that have left in the last three years. Steve McNamara reminds me of a captain of a ship that has been torpedoed several times but is still managing to stay afloat. In some ways there are similarities to what happened at Wigan post-1996 when the club hit financial difficulties after a decade of success. The rumours suggest that the club needs an injection of cash and a new driving force to take the club back to the top. I wonder if they can entice Dietrich Mateschitz, the Austrian entrepreneur behind the Red Bull drink and owner of several sports teams around the World, to get involved at Odsal and rebrand themselves the Bradford Red Bulls! Got a question for Phil? Want to nominate your try of the season? Then mail it in HERE, send it to skysportsclub@bskyb.com (put Phil Clarke in the subject field)... or if you have a view on any of Phil's thoughts this week, use the feedback form below...