Bryce Lawrence's account.

[Scorz]

That's a bit of an old school teacher trick isn't it, "what did you say?" followed by a dvd to proove what was literally said... I'd tell them to just watch the dvd and then shove it up their arse. Childish way of doing the job, and stinks of a set up. Funnily enough, even the referee review panel requires a replay to get anything right at all.

I blame Paddy the Pom.

 

[Pfitzy]

Deary me oh my,
I heartily recommend you ALL go and do your Smart Rugby and go and ref (if you can) an under say - 14 game, west sydney, pretty working class atmosphere and see how you all come out.
I can guarantee you will ALL be emotional wrecks, scared for life and vow never to ref again and whatsmore, you will have far greater tolerance for these poor chaps and what they go through.
I know they make mistakes, everyone does - but until you have walked in their shoes be very mindful of what they might be going through.

Playing out here I know it for a fact RW.

Thing is, with the heat of the moment, the guy probably can't remember what he said verbatim. He should have had the nads at the time to say "no question - attacking the face - red card". Its easier to stick to a core truth than think about little details and a red card is pretty easy to remember. Then if at the hearing they find Burglar has no case to answer, fair enough - the judiciary or appeals committee can see WHY the card was ordered, but with the benefit of slowmo decide to go easy.

I agree with a previous poster - if Dickinson had been out there, in any capacity, it would have been red. If he was the assistant ref he would have recommended red without question. If he was the ref and heard those comments from Lawrence, then he would have heard "at least a yellow" and decided to go red anyway.

 

[Thomond78]

Deary me oh my,
I heartily recommend you ALL go and do your Smart Rugby and go and ref (if you can) an under say - 14 game, west sydney, pretty working class atmosphere and see how you all come out.
I can guarantee you will ALL be emotional wrecks, scared for life and vow never to ref again and whatsmore, you will have far greater tolerance for these poor chaps and what they go through.
I know they make mistakes, everyone does - but until you have walked in their shoes be very mindful of what they might be going through.

Playing out here I know it for a fact RW.

Thing is, with the heat of the moment, the guy probably can't remember what he said verbatim. He should have had the nads at the time to say "no question - attacking the face - red card". Its easier to stick to a core truth than think about little details and a red card is pretty easy to remember. Then if at the hearing they find Burglar has no case to answer, fair enough - the judiciary or appeals committee can see WHY the card was ordered, but with the benefit of slowmo decide to go easy.

I agree with a previous poster - if Dickinson had been out there, in any capacity, it would have been red. If he was the assistant ref he would have recommended red without question. If he was the ref and heard those comments from Lawrence, then he would have heard "at least a yellow" and decided to go red anyway.

Stuart Dickinson? Coming in from the touch judge in such a way as to make him the centre of attention? No!

But I have to agree; whatever else about him, he doesn't lack stones.

Scorz, the decision is a bloody disgrace. I'll see if I can dig it up. Burger's defence was "wasn't me, and he's lying anyway"; no admission of any kind. The Disciplinary Officer said he believed Fitzgerald - and then proceeds to act as if Fitzgerald never gave evidence of fingers in his eyes and Burger had sobbed his heart out in grief. Utter bullshit.

 

[Lindommer]

I heartily recommend you ALL go and do your Smart Rugby and go and ref (if you can) an under say - 14 game, west sydney, pretty working class atmosphere and see how you all come out. I can guarantee you will ALL be emotional wrecks, scared for life and vow never to ref again and whatsmore, you will have far greater tolerance for these poor chaps and what they go through.

I've done that, whispers, and it takes a very firm hand to stop things getting out of control. THE most important thing is to tell these young thugs before the game anything untoward won't be tolerated, and then back it up the very first time anyone steps out of line. I do feel for young refs; young ruffians from the great unwashed will invariably test them to see if they're weak, and if they are things can get out of hand very quickly.

 

[Harfish]

I heartily recommend you ALL go and do your Smart Rugby and go and ref (if you can) an under say - 14 game, west sydney, pretty working class atmosphere and see how you all come out. I can guarantee you will ALL be emotional wrecks, scared for life and vow never to ref again and whatsmore, you will have far greater tolerance for these poor chaps and what they go through.

I've done that, whispers, and it takes a very firm hand to stop things getting out of control. THE most important thing is to tell these young thugs before the game anything untoward won't be tolerated, and then back it up the very first time anyone steps out of line. I do feel for young refs; young ruffians from the great unwashed will invariably test them to see if they're weak, and if they are things can get out of hand very quickly.

As another referee I have to point out that you have to be extremely careful in the way you manage those sorts of situations, it's very easy to further inflame a situation. A trap all too many young referees fall into (myself included)