Eddie has an ally in Mitch

[Nick]

Eddie has an ally in Mitch
Tim Clarke
Thursday, February 22, 2007

Embattled Queensland Reds coach Eddie Jones has at least one supporter in Super 14 rugby circles, with rival John Mitchell today saying he admired the stand the former Wallabies mentor had taken against referees.

Jones faces punishment, and possibly even removal as Reds coach, following his scathing outburst about referee Matt Goddard after last week's loss to the Brumbies.

But as Jones awaits the outcome of tonight's SANZAR hearing, he can take some solace from the backing of Western Force coach Mitchell, who said at some stage every coach would like to speak their mind as openly as Jones did last Saturday.

"I admire Eddie for his comments. He has shown he is not happy, and he is entitled, I believe, to make those comments," Mitchell said.

"I support my (fellow) coaches, and I guess all us coaches at some stage would like to do what he did.


"He has shown the nuts to do that, and good on him... but there is a process in place."

Mitchell might be seen as an unlikely ally for Jones, who was the man who ultimately helped end the Kiwi's stint as All Blacks coach after masterminding the Wallabies victory over New Zealand in the 2003 World Cup semi-final.

But after the Force suffered some dubious officiating in their first season - notably the "non-try" which cost them a win against the Crusaders - Mitchell himself has not been averse to applying pressure on referees publicly.

Although more measured in his terms than Jones, Mitchell said today referees should be as accountable as every other participant in Super rugby.

And the Western Force coach also said the "survey system", which asks coaches to rank refereeing performances after every game this season, had not led to any more feedback from officials.

"I have filled in three sheets to date, and the intriguing thing is that we do give feedback, but we have received no feedback on our summaries," Mitchell said.

"You fill in (the ranking) but we have had no feedback on that. And I guess the referee ranking will only occur nearing semi's and final stage.

"I think it should happen every week.

"It is a two way thing we are seeking, and I guess we are asking for more accountability from referees.

"But it is a pretty difficult job for the bloke in the middle, and I think the whole area needs to be looked at."

Mitchell also said the experience of touch judges was also an area of concern in such a high profile competition as Super 14.

"At times we have very experienced referees in the middle, but not as experienced touch judges on the sideline, and I think this games demands a high level and high competency among all three," Mitchell said.

AAP


This story was found at: http://www.rugbyheaven.smh.com.au/ar...733929529.html

[Happy]

hehe.. Well there's two of us here in Perth who support him then

[Nick]

Yeah I still think it was the wrong forum but Jm's opinion is weightier than mine ha ha.

[Thequeerone]

I wonder if they should publish the ranking - similar to player of the match - like a ref of the round and have a super prize for them (no not 12 cases of Toohey's) - like to up their profile and maybe give them some more respect/credance which they are losing with every inch of this issue

[Burgs]

And Just Spectacles can sponsor last place

[Nick]

Well as JM said there are some good ref's out there but you need a good ref in the middle and good touchies and a TMO. Thats 4 good officials per game at anyone time - and theres a lot of games...

So why woulf you want to be a ref it's a tough job and somehow I dont think publily having a go at them is going to help 1) they're ongoing improvement or 2) encouraging others in taking up the whistle.

We want top line officials abusing them in public isn't going to help anything. As fas as a ranking well from club level up I dont think they get enough recognition so who knows TQ1 a dozen cases of tooheys might help

[Burgs]

I agree there Nick, I keep reading all about how "We need experienced Refs (and Touch Judges now!)" etc etc.
Well how the hell do you get experience?
Probably the same way as you become an experienced player, you do the hard yards on the track, make some mistakes, hopefully less than you get right and you learn from.....EXPERIENCE!!!
I don't think SANZAR (or the IRB) are just cruising down to the local club match and saying "You've got the Reds match next week"!
These guys, for better or worse, are considered the best we have and are officiating as they understand the laws to apply to what they see in front of them.
Until a "next generation" comes through the limited Refs that we have are what we will have to deal with and hopefully develop.
And public humiliation does nothing to solve that and makes it very difficult for a supposedly unbiased official to remain that way the next time they face that Coach's team.
Public humiliation also does little to encourage our juniors to pick up a whistle in the first place.
Eddie is wrong to have handled the situation how he did and it is wrong to encourage him by supporting his actions.
He knew he was breaking the rules that were set, he stated as much in prefacing his comments!
Where's the difference between this and the support for "the Rules" that we gave to the Force regarding the Fava incidents both this year and last?

[Burgs]

I'm sorry but Eddie Jones has about 10% of the respect I once had for him left, I think he is on the verge of a "Britney"

Now Fisher feels Eddie fury

By Peter Jenkins
February 24, 2007

QUEENSLAND Reds coach Eddie Jones returned to verbal combat last night after a surprise sledging from Brumbies rival Laurie Fisher.

Jones was fined $10,000 on Thursday for criticising the performance of referee Matt Goddard after a 6-3 loss to the Brumbies in Brisbane last weekend.

But Western Force and former New Zealand coach John Mitchell later praised the heartfelt outburst of the Reds boss and "admired" the courage Jones had shown.

Fisher took a different view.

According to The Canberra Times, he "slated" Jones for the post-match spray aimed at Goddard.

"Admire isn't the word I would use," Fisher said. "I wouldn't be using the same process Eddie has chosen to over the past week.

"If one of your players has a bad game do you go and blast them through the media?

"If the referee has what you believe to be a bad game do you go and blast him through the media?

"You have to pick your targets and pick how you approach those targets and I think I would have chosen differently."

Told of the comments as his side prepared for tonight's round four clash with the Blues in Auckland, Jones suggested Fisher's record at the Brumbies should have him more concerned with results than the actions of other coaches.

Fisher took over when player power at the Brumbies ousted David Nucifora as coach in May 2004 -- despite the former Test hooker taking the Canberra franchise to the Super 14 title the same month.

But during his first two seasons in charge Fisher's side failed to make the semi-finals despite the Brumbies still holding sway as the dominant force in Test selections.

The Brumbies finished fifth in 2005 and sixth in 2006.

"From my point of view, I'm very disappointed with what Laurie has had to say," said Jones.

"Every coach has his own way of doing things and Laurie making those sort of comments doesn't help anyone.

"I would have thought he'd be better off coaching his own side rather than worrying about what I do."

A leading official at one of Australia's Super 14 franchises also questioned why Fisher's name - given his record - has suddenly surfaced in the past fortnight as a likely contender for the Wallabies job when John Connolly stands down at the end of the World Cup.

"Do they want a coach with runs on the board or someone who appears most likely to toe the company line?" the source told The Saturday Telegraph.

"He had the most experienced roster of all the Australian teams in his first two years and didn't get the Brumbies to the playoffs."

Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie was asked yesterday whether he had any public comment to make about the fairness of the disciplinary action against Jones.

"No, not really," he smiled.

"I guess they're making a statement. So they've made a pretty strong statement about how they want coaches to conduct themselves around games.

"I guess what they're saying is that your first point of call shouldn't be through the media, it should be to the referee direct and then if you're not getting satisfaction, there are other channels."

Jones took his stance believing referees need to be more accountable for their on-field displays.

He could not understand how a dominant Queensland scrum was being penalised for collapsing against an Brumbies pack they were dealing with comfortably at the set piece.

McKenzie admitted the issue surrounding the assessment of referees and punishing those who fail to hit the mark was a complex one for Super 14 organisers.

"We have far more logistical issues than rugby league and other sports (in terms of travel)," he said.

"So you can't really compare.

"In saying that, accountability is important, regardless of what workplace or industry you're in.

"As far as I'm aware the refereeing pecking order has changed already this year. Obviously they're keeping that in-house. But performances have affected referees' selections ... so I'm told."