IHAVE never written any previous letters concerning the game of Rugby League, but after watching the Good Friday game (St Helens v Wigan) as a neutral Huddersfield Giants fan, I feel obliged to offer my comments concerning the current state of officialdom within our great game.

Between referee Liam Moore, videoreferee Chris Kendall and the various touch judges, there were several truly mystifying decisions. The video referee’s decisions concerning what is (Batchelor) and what is not (Hurrell) a try were of an embarrassing nature. In my opinion,

Hurrell’s should have been allowed due to downward pressure applied on the ball and Batchelor’s disallowed due to a lack of downward pressure. The officials saw it differently.

The crusher tackle on Jon Bennison by Sam Powell was a potential life changer.

So what did Liam Moore offer as a deterrent? A yellow card!

Powell should have been given an instant dismissal and now be looking forward to a lengthy ban from the game.

A few weeks earlier, this same referee had deemed a red card to be the only option available when red carding Will Pryce in the Hull v Huddersfield Giants game, admittedly for a truly horrendous tackle. Pryce is serving his penance, but the same cannot be said of Powell, that is unless the disciplinary committee bring some sense to the proceedings.

I understand that without officials we would not have a game. I also have sympathy with the fact that refereeing is a very difficult occupation due to the speed of today’s game. But, with the addition of technology, this should be surely easier than in the halcyon days of the legendary Billy Thompson and Fred Lindop. Surely, we can offer something better than what is being currently served up by today’s officials.

When I look at today’s officials -

Moore, Kendall, Child, Hicks and Thaler -I am not filled with any confidence.

Televised games appear to be their moment in the sun. As an aside, why is Thaler deemed to be good enough to operate as the video-referee at various games, but we have not seen him on the field of play for what seems like weeks?