Wayne Bennett and Bob Fulton discuss NRL's refereeing standard and rules

WAYNE Bennett and Bob Fulton explain how an independent voice with no fixed agenda will help fix the NRL's biggest problems.

IF John Grant is looking for ways to get on top of the biggest problem in rugby league, maybe he should contact two of the game's most influential voices - Wayne Bennett and Bob Fulton - and ask for their help.

The Daily Telegraph yesterday contacted both men to get their thoughts on what could be done to improve the standard of refereeing and the confusion over the rules in the game.

Bennett and Fulton both agreed the way forward was to appoint an independent person to oversee a complete overhaul of the refereeing system, the rules and the judiciary process.

Bennett explained: "This person has to be independent. It has to be someone that you feel is working for you, the referees and the fans.

"It has to be someone who sits over the judiciary and the referees, someone we all feel doesn't have an agenda.

"We need someone who can take all the information on board and set out to make the game better. He tells the refs, we need to fix this up. He tells the judiciary where they are getting it wrong. He tells the coaches what will and won't be accepted.

"We need someone who has the courage of his convictions.

"If he sees a problem that needs to be fixed he can go to Bill (Harrigan) and say; 'Bill, what I'm seeing here is not acceptable. It's continually happening, get it changed Bill.'

"Or the match review committee, or the way the game is being played ... this is not a bitch, this is not about me coming out and saying I'm unhappy with them. This is about getting a better system."

Fulton said two referees could stay, as long as one was given control of the game and the other was on the field strictly to police the 10 metres.

"The two referees system is workable as long as one referee controls the game," Fulton said. "The assistant ref should determine the 10 and police it correctly. That is what it was originally and they got away from that."