'Referees deserve respect and support'': Abdo backs match officials
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NRL CEO Andrew Abdo has thrown his support behind the game’s referees and called for greater respect towards match officials.
Abdo’s comments follow a weekend in which referees and Bunker officials came under intense scrutiny over a number of decisions, including the awarding of a try to Gold Coast winger Phillip Sami and a no try call against Warriors winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.
Wests Tigers also finished Saturday’s match against the Bulldogs with 11 players after David Klemmer was sin-binned for dissent and Alex Seyfarth followed for headbutting, with the pair among five players charged by the match review committee.
David Klemmer sent to the sin bin
Among the others were Bulldogs prop Sam Hughes, who was charged with contrary conduct for pushing referee Kasey Badger in the back, and Canterbury hooker Reed Mahoney, who was charged for a dangerous throw and contrary conduct.
Wests Tigers halfback Aiden Sezer has been suspended for four matches after pleading guilty to his fourth charge since round two.
However, the on-field behaviour of players towards match officials, comments by coaches and club officials, and the reaction of fans on social media, has caused concern at a time when the game is promoting initiatives such as “Respect Round” for juniors.
Seyfarth sent to the bin
"We have seen several close and exciting games this round and this year, with record engagement from fans,” Abdo said.
“The clubs and players have been playing some great football and the referees are contributing to the flowing, high-quality games.
“The referees are the most scrutinised individuals in the game. Their performance is analysed and assessed individually and collectively in a highly technical manner by the NRL."
Annesley: There has to be more tolerance around match officials from everyone in the game
Badger, who was the first woman to referee a men's international match when she took charge of the Tonga-Wales Test during the 2022 World Cup in England, recently celebrated her 15th season of service as a match official at the elite level.
“Anyone making it to the best rugby league competition in the world is deserving, and has dedicated a large part of their life working hard to fulfil this ambition," Abdo said.
"They are highly capable, elite performers making complex decisions in real time under fatigue.
"Occasionally, because they’re humans, they make mistakes. Referees deserve respect and support, from grassroots to elite, and they will always have that from me and the game.”
NRL head of football Graham Annesley was confident that Badger had the resilience to cope with the fallout from the Tigers-Bulldogs match but was concerned about the impact on junior referees.
“This is not a gender issue and my discussion today is not about gender because even when referees do make mistakes, they don't make mistakes because of their gender," Annesley said.
"They make mistakes because they're human, and every human on the planet makes mistakes. Yet we somehow have this expectation that rugby league referees should get everything right.
"But not only should they get everything right they should get everything right in my eyes or in the eyes of the viewer who have a different set of eyes looking at it than someone who supports the other team.
“There are plenty of players that have stood over male referees and have attempted to exert some influence so it's not a gender issue.
“You have to remember too that in this particular case, I think that this is her third NRL game, so she's a rookie referee and players will try and test rookie referees regardless of gender.
“That's been happening for as long as I've been involved in the game, and they'll see how far they can push them."
Annesley addresses two key incidents from Titans v Storm
Annesley said everyone in the game had a responsibility to avoid attacks on match officials.
“I think it's incumbent on everybody, particularly our players on the field, to show a level in respect to match officials,” Annesley said.
“The players do have a responsibility in that regard, but there's a broader responsibility to everyone involved in the game.
“We need coaches, club officials and fans to understand that it's a tough job and to understand that not every decision that they don't like necessarily is an error, it's just that they don't like the decision.
“I'm not trying to take the passion out of the game, I'm not trying to stop people from supporting their club and from being 100% committed to their club, but when we see some of these keyboard warriors that want to attack people maliciously, and harmfully, online, that's just not acceptable.
“It becomes a disincentive for us to attract young referees, who in 10-years time might be refereeing in the NRL, but they won't be refereeing in the NRL if they say ‘no way, I'm not doing that - not with that level of criticism’.”
