WHETHER it’s the NRL, Super League or the Barrow & District League, one constant throughout the sport is the referees are usually the villains.
One high-ranking club official down under, however, has called for everyone to lay off the men and women in the middle.
Penrith Panthers CEO Matt Cameron believes far too much emphasis is placed on the role of whistle-blowers in the outcome of games, and wants a change in attitude towards them from everyone in the sport.
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“For starters, I think it’s the hardest gig in the game outside of the playing group,” Cameron told the latest episode of The Bye Round podcast’s Rugby League Roundtable.
“I have a view that we talk about them too much. They are front and centre in a lot of what goes on.
“I think it would be great if we de-emphasised the importance that us, broadcast, commentary, put on it.
“If you watch the NFL, they don’t make reference to the referee or the middle-field umpire by name. They’re personalities in our game, somewhat, rather than the best eight or 10 referees.”
Barely a week goes by during the season in either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere competitions without some sort of talking point around decisions made by the match officials.
The recent Ashes series between England and Australia produced several too, whether it was top Super League ref Liam Moore’s policing of the ruck in the first Test or NRL whistler Grant Atkins dishing out sin-binnings in the second.
Mr Moore has irked the Panthers in the past too with some of his decisions in the 2024 World Club Challenge defeat away to Wigan Warriors, yet Cameron is sympathetic to the issues the referees and touch judges face on a weekly basis.
“I have a teaching background and I can’t imagine what it would be like with one teacher and two helpers – one on each side – and 26 kids screaming at them,” Cameron said.
“I think there’s an opportunity for the game to de-emphasise the way we address them, approach them, talk about them, and take a bit of pressure of them.
“They’re not perfect, we’re not perfect, and the players aren’t perfect.”