Abuse of the referee

[HBK-aholic]

The Rugby Football League has charged Hull KR coach Justin Morgan over comments he made about referee Ben Thaler on Easter Monday.

Morgan said Thaler's performance in the Super League defeat to Huddersfield was "substandard" and suggested he should "spend some time learning the rules."

The Rovers coach will face charges of misconduct and breaching the RFL's Respect policy.

An RFL tribunal will be held on 22 April to investigate the matter.

Morgan claimed Huddersfield were allowed to get away with "blue murder" and said Thaler needs to return to a lower grade.

"It is absolutely disgraceful every time we get him," the Australian said.

"There is a very common denominator every time there is a poor game of rugby league and that is Mr Thaler."

Morgan is charged with breaching rules stating that club officials should not criticise the character of a referee or the manner in which he has controlled a game.

Personally, I think this is bullshit. There shouldn't be a rule against this. While I actually think Thaler is the best referee the RFL have at the moment, I still think Morgan was perfectly fine for saying what he did. Referees make such stupid decisions sometimes, yet it's 'illegal' for them to be questioned or criticised. Referees need just as much coaching as the players do, and often they control the game more. (See: The video referee in the Leeds/Bradford derby on Good Friday).

If a referee, or video referee for that matter, make a decision and either the coach or captain disagree with it, they should be made to explain it at the end of the match. Surely, if they're confident they made the right decision this shouldn't be a problem. Recently it's been reduced to people saying decisions were 'questionable' when what is wanted to be said is that they were wrong and you're sick of it. If the decision is questionable you should be able to question it.