It's a bloody disaster

[fulvio sammut]

I now encourage all Wanneroo fourth grade players to boycott the game as an act of solidarity with their club and an expression of their contempt for the bungled process.

[zed]

It is always a sad day when a team is disbanded, we want more rugby, not less. I'm confident RugbyWA will do the right thing.

Zed,

I believe you may have mis-read my first point zed. I said the referee clarified that they did not fear for their own safety, hence they would have been fine having a drink afterwards, Wanneroo is after all a very social club towards visiting teams and refs, I am assuming that with the ref staying, there was no difference even with the on field events. This is what makes rugby great.

.

I did misread your first point and I got a little bit over-excited (it's Friday), apologies. I've edited my post

[wholetruth]

If anyone would like to check I think you would find that the rerferee did state he feared for his safety. Only later did he claim it was for the players safety that he abandoned the match. I'm told he later tried to upgrade some of the cards by post.

[wholetruth]

Hey Westie. Can I ask whether a "Westiesman" was on the judiciary by any chance?.

[westies man]

No you can't, anyway it's game on, lets move on and I just might pull the boots on and show you guy's what real thuggery is and in the second half show you why Richie McCaw modelled his game around me

[wholetruth]

So there was then. What about you Fulvio. Wasn't a "Palyman" on the panel as well was there by any chance.?

[Buddha Handy]

So appeal upheld proves what a joke it was. Wanneroo can continue to play for points but if they make the finals they are not allowed to take part. So not sure how that one works, still an undeserved punishment.

Rugby ref, this Wanneroo team has been together 3 years and has a very good disciplinary record. They were definitely wanting to play rugby last week and have a very good and fair rivalry against Uni having finished 1st and 2nd on the ladder the last 2 years.

Anyway at least the boys can finish the season together

[wholetruth]

Why can't they play in finals if they get enough points from the next two games.

[Berightback]

Facts

First yellow was for a shoulder charge, didn't look too bad but it did some damage and player was rightfully binned.

Second yellow was for a professional foul, penalty try awarded.

Red was for swearing at referee over this decision - wan players had started back chatting ref prior to this and had been warned.

Next yellow was for a blatant punch by wan player into a maul, right in front of ref, prob should have got red. As far as I had seen there was no punching by Uni players - as stated above these two teams know each other on and off the pitch and normally played in good spirits. This was the only real foul play in the game, apart from the ref abuse.

Last yellow was not actually pulled out of pocket and was for a high shot - Uni players thought it was fair but the game was called because of the torrent of abuse that started to come from wan players once they saw the ref had called the tackler over (only a couple of them were really bad - others tried to settle the situation). C bombs were being dropped on and off the pitch afterwards, some of the worst ref abuse I have witnessed. I have not always agreed with the man in the middle myself but this overstepped the mark by some way.

The ref abuse was absolutely unacceptable and to me was the reason the game was eventually called. I also assumed this was the reason for the team ban but everyone seems to be focused on the cards.

Talking to Uni players afterwards they did not think the game was particularly dirty and thought a couple of the cards were a little harsh but they were bemused by how Wan had imploded and lost the plot with the ref abuse. It continued after the final whistle.

Some good guys in the wan team but some of them went way too far with the abuse and that is not rugby union.

[Ecky]

...on those 3 separate occasions the referee neglected to punish said player....
...Incidents were not dealt with adequately and effectively by the referee. Ultimately he was unable to control the game and lacked the skill, professionalism and temperament to deal with the specific issues he faced. This is something a qualified referee should be able to do. He failed in this regard. ....

How many games have you seen where the ref has been required to deal with the specific issues faced? I mean despite the assertion that the ref missed sanctioning infringements. How many games have you seen where the players escalated their actions to unacceptable levels such as this game appears to have experienced?
So, how often then is a ref in the situation of having to deal with such things?
Regardless of the skill/experience of the individual referee, the player actions from this game (from my reading of this thread only - no other knowledge of the game) seem completely unacceptable.

I understand that players are completely entitled to play a game to push the boundaries of acceptability (Richie McCaw for example), but this is to do with playing within the spirit - and laws - of the game; not resorting to thuggery or cheap shots just because they might not be penalised or, worse, to retaliate for something they think happened to them/their team.

To have refereed a game such as this will help the individual to deal with future games where elements of this behaviour happen, but I'll bet that ref had never experienced it to that extent before that game.

[wholetruth]

Fact? Red was for swearing at referee over this decision
I dont condone ref abuase but it's hard to fathom how you can swear at a referee when a long way from him and directing comments at your own players facing your own players.
Fact? Next yellow was for a blatant punch by wan player into a maul, right in front of ref, prob should have got red.
From what I have been told by players of both sides the "Punch" was a slap that hit the ball as part of the tackle.

[Berightback]

Ok, swearing at ref or talking about ref and swearing to other players about him....obviously within earshot of ref...I'll let you be the judge.

The punch / slap was a swinging arm up into a maul, it looked bad. I have never come across the tactic of trying to dislodge a ball out of a maul before by slapping it. The guy was a back so maybe we should forgive him.

Like I mentioned the above two incidents had nothing on the ref abuse, this was the big issue in my eyes.

[Buddha Handy]

Facts

First yellow was for a shoulder charge, didn't look too bad but it did some damage and player was rightfully binned.

Second yellow was for a professional foul, penalty try awarded.

Red was for swearing at referee over this decision - wan players had started back chatting ref prior to this and had been warned.

Next yellow was for a blatant punch by wan player into a maul, right in front of ref, prob should have got red. As far as I had seen there was no punching by Uni players - as stated above these two teams know each other on and off the pitch and normally played in good spirits. This was the only real foul play in the game, apart from the ref abuse.

Last yellow was not actually pulled out of pocket and was for a high shot - Uni players thought it was fair but the game was called because of the torrent of abuse that started to come from wan players once they saw the ref had called the tackler over (only a couple of them were really bad - others tried to settle the situation). C bombs were being dropped on and off the pitch afterwards, some of the worst ref abuse I have witnessed. I have not always agreed with the man in the middle myself but this overstepped the mark by some way.

The ref abuse was absolutely unacceptable and to me was the reason the game was eventually called. I also assumed this was the reason for the team ban but everyone seems to be focused on the cards.

Talking to Uni players afterwards they did not think the game was particularly dirty and thought a couple of the cards were a little harsh but they were bemused by how Wan had imploded and lost the plot with the ref abuse. It continued after the final whistle.

Some good guys in the wan team but some of them went way too far with the abuse and that is not rugby union.

Pretty accurate description berightback, could argue that a penalty try plus a yellow card is harsh for a player being offside in front of the kicker and there was definitely nothing wrong with the last tackle which was the final straw for the Wanneroo players as they were in disbelief at this stage. but like you said the ref abuse is the issue and was over the top. The ref did not handle the situation well but players over reacted. But the players should be dealt with individually I feel.

[fulvio sammut]

Wholetruth,"Pallymen" do not condone intimidatory behaviour, partisanship, unfairness, and the commission of acts which bring the game of rugby into disrepute.

There are no Pallymen on the judiciary.

[Forceable]

Who was the referee?