Todd Greenberg will not make major changes to the refereeing department until the end of the season
NRL boss Todd Greenberg says he is as disappointed about Friday night’s referee disaster as anyone but won’t make major changes before an end of the season review.
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NRL boss Todd Greenberg says he is as disappointed about Friday night’s referee disaster as anyone but won’t make major changes before an end of the season review.
He said changes in the referee ranks could happen before the start of next season.
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“In terms of what we can do I can assure you that everyone in the NRL is held to account,” Greenberg told The Sunday Telegraph.
“That means all of us. We monitor everyone’s performance and that will also happen at the end of the season through our review process.
“Right now the priority is to work with the referees department to eliminate these mistake over the next 10 weeks.
“And if changes need to be made at the end of the season they will be made
“But the real focus today has to be improving the performance of the people there.
“We know they are good referees … we know they are good people … and ultimately they are the best referees in our game
“But we have to get them to eliminate the big errors which simply should not happen What we are seeing is human error. That happens in every job. But we have to do better.’’
Greenberg said he was “as disappointed as the fans about what happened in the Raiders game” after another referee blunder overshadowed the opening round 19 matches.
“We work in an elite high performance environment and pressure is applied to people’s careers and livelihoods every week,’’ Greenberg said. “That includes coaches, players, administrators and also match officials.”
Greenberg oversaw the introduction of the bunker in his former role as head of football in 2016. Back then he hoped the multimillion-dollar investment would result in mistake free decisions.
It is the second week in a row matches have been overshadowed by poor decision making after the bunker ruled a try to Roosters rookie Sean O’Sullivan which the referees boss admitted was wrong.
Greenberg said basic errors should not happen.
“We pour millions of dollars into our referees department and they have the best technology in the country to assist their decision making,” Greenberg said. “(Friday night) was not good enough and it was not up to the standards I expect.
“I’ve been consistent in my support of match officials through the last few years and that support will continue because they have a very important role but also a very difficult one.
“But that support always comes with strong expectations and accountability.
“So I expect a lot better than what was served up in that game.”