It's not quite equivalent

Because all NRL games are televised, but I would love to see them introduce a similar judiciary in the professional European leagues in football as in Rugby League. The onus is on the players to behave athemselves in a pretty brutal game, and by and large they do.

Best of all, if the referee is unsure of the extent of a foul, he can refer decisions to the midweek panel for review. Not only that, there is a bloke whose job it is to review the tapes of each game each week and cite anyone guilty of foul play, be it blatent or sneaky off-the-ball stuff.

It works because they aren't afraid to admit the referee doesn't always have a perfect view and may not always get everything 100% correct, and as such there will always be mistakes. By hiding their heads in the sand, FIFA et al seem to think they can make all the problems go away as by admitting a mistake they are leave the game open to lawsuits.

They even have real penalties, too. A bloke a while back got 15 weeks for hitting someone in a fight - none of this one game and you'll be back breaking legs next Tuesday bulls**t. Serial offenders get longer punishments.

And respect is demanded for the referees. One memorable moment involved Aussie great and (at the time) international captain Gordon Tallis doing his quince at a referee. The ref did his best to calm him down, but ended up sending him off. Can you imagine if someone did that to Wayne Rooney, for example, rather than just pretending they were deaf? A red card and a 5-week ban might just encourage him to pull his head in a bit. If he keeps doing it, then his club will certainly have a word as it's expensive to pay someone who can't play through their own stupidity (May not work at clubs employing Wio Ferdinand).

Just a thought - but it'll never catch on. Gordon Taylor would explode, for starters.

Posted By: Iwan Husarmi, Dec 13, 20:17:29