Quote Originally Posted by Goatscheese View Post
Where's the development? It's coming towards the end of the season and the same referees are still making the same mistakes and the quality hasn't been improving. Players get better (well usually) throughout the year because they get coaching, practice and game time. What are the referee associations and Northern doing to develop their current pool? Sitting on their ass and saying you can't say anything to the ref is just a band-aid solution when they really should be looking at developing the people they do have.

I'm not blaming the referees for their incompetence, I'm blaming the people in charge that should be improving them but aren't doing a very good job at it.
Actually, you're wrong. The state league refs have bimonthly meetings which feature a coaching session, plus monthly dedicated coaching sessions for different levels of refs, plus training twice a week. So hardly sitting on their arse.

In terms of decisions, how many people know the difference between careless, reckless or excessive force, or the criteria used to distinguish DOGSO from BUPA? If people don't properly know the rules, the decisions by the refs will appear wrong.