Happy Hump Day fellow GAGRs unfortunately for you Yowie is unable to do this so you have me for another week. Certainly an interesting week of rugby and officiating that had many people upset. I’m sure my comments on it will fuel the fire a bit more but coming in from the side and upsetting people is what us Kiwis do so “Whatever!” I do love this time of the season where teams have so much to play for and where things will progress as much on other games as the ones they are playing. For me it still comes down to the same thing though; Win your game as that’s the only one you can control – even with a referee having an off day, and while hope is not a strategy, sometimes it’s all we have.
Some good match ups coming and I must admit with the way the Crusaders stepped up last week I’m a tad nervous for my Canes in the run to the final.
Referee Corner
Gus & his natural pose refereeing Kiwis
3 Oct 1999: Referee Andrew Cole gives a penalty to Samoa during the Rugby World Cup match between Sa played at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, England. Samoa won the game 43-9. \ Mandatory Credit: Mike Hewitt /Allsport
Photo courtesy of Keith McInnes
Certainly some gnashing of teeth and crying about a couple of games officiating this week and to be fair Marcus Playle didn’t have a great game. Mind you nor did Damon Murphy and giving a YC to a player who clearly released and then went for the jackal was a harsh call. This happens some times and to me it looked like Playle got a bit over awed with the pace of the game. Both teams needed this game and both came out and went full anti law mode with players off their feet at every ruck, entering from the side, not releasing before going for the ball, being off side and not retiring as they put in the extra effort to try and gain dominance and stay ahead. There were multiple players on each side breaking the law at every contact and I think Playle just lost control of the game early. Then in trying to get some back he made more mistakes which compounded things. I also don’t think he was supported well by his ARs and TMO and while people are right to complain about his officiating, I think a fair bit of the blame goes to the other officials as well.
This sort of thing has happened to me. In my first game back after Covid, when everyone came out hard core and used the game to get rid of some frustrations, I had a senior 2nd game and while the first half was ok, I completely lost control in the 2nd half. When you’re in a situation like this you need a process that can get you back on track and I’m not sure Playle had one or if he did, it didn’t work for him in this game as it didn’t work for me in that one.
I’m not as concerned about this as some, probably because it wasn’t my team in the hunt. Both Playle and his coach will work through this. They’ll go over the game identifying areas where he got things wrong and look at why and how he could approach this in future games and be better. They’ll look at developing processes he can put in place so that he recognises when he gets overwhelmed and that can help him get grounded and back into the game. That’s how the thing works. The thing with this is that we need to keep developing referees so that when Gus, BOK and others can’t continue we have others able to step up. This means we will always have some inexperienced referees at games and while we might not like them at ours, get over it, they have to learn somewhere. One of the sayings I like is “Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.” We have to give these referees experience in both easy and hard games so they can learn from their mistakes and continue to improve. Shutting them out will not help us in the long term.
One thing that does get to me is all the crying about how he should be sacked and never referee again. FFS that is a higher level of stupidity that I expect from rugby supporters. Sure get upset and while there were a lot of mistakes from the referee, the game wasn’t lost because of his decisions after all he didn’t miss any tackles on Sititi or fail to stop the rolling maul. If you want to ignore all that and blame the referee for the loss, then that actually says more about you than it does about the referee. We have so many people here saying things like; BOK has regressed and I don’t want him refereeing our games, I don’t like Doleman and how he adjudicates, Williams makes too many mistakes, Murphy is past his best and should retire, Nic Berry is inconsistent, XX is biased against Australian/Kiwi teams etc. etc. I’m not sure what people expect from the complaint to SANZAAR either. Whether they agree or not, nothing will change and for me the Reds run the risk of having the next few referees go full on TMO mode to try and ensure the game is perfect so they don’t get blamed for the loss, if it happens. That will just make for a boring game and the lack of flow will be an issue for the Reds in trying to build momentum.
Personally I prefer to approach this the way Richie McCaw did. I was at an event once and he was asked about a particular SA referee that lots of people had issues with in a recent game and his comment was “If we play our game properly, we take the referee out of the equation. You can’t fight the referee, so learn fast how they approach the game, adapt to their style and then play your game your way” I think this is a skill that captains need to be taught and is probably more important than some of the pure rugby skills like passing, catching and tackling. I know it’s a big part of the Crusader leadership program and maybe it should be a big part of others.
Bombshell Joseph Suaalii rumour emerges
In a report that no one will be surprised I laughed at, it appears there are rumblings that Joseph Suaalii is in talks to join the PNG Chiefs in 2028. Suaalii is currently contracted to Rugby Australia and the NSW Waratahs until the end of 2027 with a two-year player option for 2028–2029. The former Roosters star, however, is understood to be open to a return to the NRL, with the Chiefs a possible landing spot. Suaalii returned to rugby to play for Australia in the Rugby World Cup. A deal with the Chiefs could see him do that and then return to a lucrative NRL deal. Apparently he has been identified as an ideal target. His manager, Isaac Moses, has been contacted for comment but did not respond immediately. The Roosters are also reportedly keen on bringing Suaalii back to Bondi. Suaalii is currently on a $1.6 million annual salary, on top of partnerships with brands like Range Rover and Louis Vuitton. Suaalii would be another huge scalp for the Chiefs if they can pull it off. He would be a marquee signing for the new franchise.
To be fair, this is on one site and I’m not sure how true or not it is. Personally I think he is struggling with understanding the game of rugby and his lack of experience is hindering him. For me it’s not helped by being positioned in the hardest position on the field that requires the most rugby IQ to be good at and I think he’s almost been set up to fail. He’s a big strong guy and will always look good if given space, but for me he doesn’t have the experience to be effective at seeing the plays develop and understanding what is happening so he can defend properly and set things up for his outside backs to take advantage of the space that is developing. His lack of game time with injuries has been part of the problem as well. I certainly don’t blame him or his manager for getting the deal, or for looking for a better one. After all he only has a short career and setting himself and his family up is a great idea.
Tate McDermott explains the ‘complications’ that have left him in race to be ready for Wallabies opener
Tate McDermott has revealed setbacks with his hamstring injury have left him in a race to be ready for the first test of the year against Ireland on 4 July. The scrum-half has been sidelined since getting the hamstring surgically reattached after injuring it in his 50th Wallaby cap against the All Blacks last September. There were hopes that he would come back for the Reds in Super rugby this season, however he can’t be 100 per cent certain when he might get a club run before the season is out.
Speaking at a promotion event last week “It’s been a bit of a long journey, to be honest,” he said. “I remember speaking to the media earlier on and was really positive about how I was going. I was feeling good, but we had just a couple of little setbacks around the hamstring I got reattached.” adding “It wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do really, but (I’m) feeling really good now… I’m hoping to get a game in before the regular season finishes, but I still can’t give you an exact date.”
So, what hasn’t gone smoothly with his rehab? “I have been incredibly fortunate never to be injured in my career, and never even had a hamstring strain or anything like that, but I’m well across what it looks like now and I have been in the gym for six months trying to get my hammies going again. I had to get it surgically reattached, so pretty much when it came off my pelvis, I had to staple it back on, and then all the complications that come with learning to run again and making sure that the muscles in and around that hamstring don’t do too much or don’t do too little.”
This is really unfortunate news. Tate has been a very good finisher for the Wallabies and his sniping runs have been a point of difference in closing some games out. While his passing has let him down at times I noticed an improvement last year and lets hope this continues as he gets better.