NRL boss Todd Greenberg says under-fire referees face axe with ‘accountability’ the key
NRL boss Todd Greenberg has finally stepped into the refereeing crisis by guaranteeing a severe response to last Friday’s controversial Cronulla-Canberra debacle.
NRL boss Todd Greenberg has finally stepped into the refereeing crisis by guaranteeing a severe response to last Friday’s controversial Cronulla-Canberra debacle.
Greenberg has indicated touch judge Ricky McFarlane and the game’s No.1 referee Gerard Sutton will both face the axe as a result of two major blunders which cost the Raiders victory and killed off their top-eight hopes.
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“You can take it as read that tomorrow’s (Tuesday) appointments will reflect some of that disappointment. There has to be accountability,” Greenberg said on Monday.
“You can expect there to be accountability tomorrow.”
The NRL boss admitted fans are frustrated across the game after a season of refereeing controversy.
“I’m really frustrated — we should be getting those decisions right,” Greenberg told Channel 9.
“They impact games and impact livelihoods.
“Everyone is under pressure as they should be.”
The Daily Telegraph understands Greenberg has personally intervened this afternoon to ensure confidence is restored in the refereeing ranks after a weekend of outrage.
Referees boss Bernard Sutton is in the awkward position of having to drop his brother Gerard, who failed to stop the game when McFarlane raised the touch judge’s flag to indicate a knock-on.
He also failed to alert the referees’ bunker of the touch judge problem.
The Daily Telegraph understands former No. 1 referee Matt Cecchin will be appointed to handle the Sydney Roosters-St George Illawarra blockbuster this weekend.
It is uncertain whether Sutton will be demoted to a pocket referee role or dropped altogether from the round 21 appointments.
Greenberg’s declaration came after The Daily Telegraph reported that a former leading referee had called on Bernard Sutton to make the tough call and drop his brother Gerard.
McCallum said it would be “unfair” to make under-fire touch judge MacFarlane the sole scapegoat for Friday night’s refereeing controversy from the weekend.
“I think I would be looking at standing down the three, that includes the video referee,” McCallum said.
“(McFarlane) would be the scapegoat if he is the only one stood down.
“There is multiple levels of error in this and I think it would be unfair if the touch judge was the only one to have paid the penalty.”
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Originally published as NRL boss Todd Greenberg says under-fire referees face axe with ‘accountability’ the key
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