@Rich_NL, I hear you mate. And for 90% of the time, i just leave it, I may have a frustrated shake of the head and if somethings unbelievable sometimes I'll frustratingly ask "Really" or say "Oh c'mon." While look up to the sky. I've never had and argument. And when the ref on Saturday disagreed, I simply said I'll speak to you on Monday. Didn't engage in a discussion after that. I did laugh once because there was a very amusing call the he awarded a Pk for hands in the ruck when a) there was no ruck b) the support player of the tackled player picked it up, promptly fell over his team mate, placed the ball back to his 9. He awarded them a PK for us having hands in the ruck even though none of our players were near the twol (tackler had rolled away by then and was on his way back to his feet about 1.5m away).
It was just another one of a long line of rubbish calls. One of which was a YC for a high tackle that he didn't card the player for (that was a player in my team that should've been carded).
I get that refs are human and mistakes happen, no doubt I'll make a whole bunch of them. But again, we're all only human and there's only so much we can take. I've been frustrated with one other ref performance in my time. yeah there's been the odd decision that's been how can he/she call that but not to the point that I've been with this fella from Saturday (and the other one was last season). Like I said refs are human and can make mistakes and I understand this but when the mistakes are more common than the correct calls that's when I start getting frustrated.
I don't think you understand human dynamics very well. Your snide little asides, which you think think are de minimis, are the sort of shit that turns referees against your team. As much as we try to be impartial, these things erode the relationship and get you - and possibly your team - in the target sights.
A decent referee will tell your skipper to shut you the hell up before it starts to impact decision making. A less confident referee will just have his judgmemt swayed - and that means your share of 50/50 calls just went down.
"I'll speak to you on Monday" - why not just say that you think he's a twat and get the code out the way. I know what you're saying, he knows what you're saying, and so do you. There's no point in saying it.
Why do you feel that you have the right to editorialize? I wonder what the referee's ongoing commentary of how you play is? "Mouthy sod, and can't take the pressure from the oppo TH" "Christ he's unfit and buggering up the team's pattern"
We DON'T say that to the players, and with good reason. I think we can expect the same back from players.
I'm going to be frank here: most referees - most, not all - are humble, and want to know what they can do better. They're open to discussion and explaining what they saw. Generally what we're not good with with is snide, smart ass know it alls who may not have had the same angle.
Ask yourself what side of the equation you're on. Because on the basis of your posts, I can think of 14 of your team mates I'd buy a pint for before you.
