Refereeing bathes in the spotlight.

It seems referees have taken the spotlight yet again over the past few weeks. While New Zealand, and in fact the rest of the world, were celebrating an Australian demise in Brisbane, Ricky Stuart was cursing and verbally abusing World Cup final referee Ashley Klien in a hotel lobby. Australian coach, Stuart, was unhappy with Klein's performance in the final while the rest of the 52,000 in Suncorp thought he had referees the game quite well and Australia had lost the World Cup fairly.

After such events, Stuart should resign as Australian coach as soon as possible and forever leave actions like this away from the international game. There is no place for verbal abuse at an official whether it be on the field, in the sheds or in a public place away from the stadium. A public apology is not good enough for a professional such as Stuart. He is a grown man and just because Klein is a Super League referee does not mean he should be put in the stocks. So to speak.

And on the subject of refereeing, the ARL's radical new attempt the introduce two referees on the field is gaining momentum. Yes thats right, two referees on the same field for NRL games. And while we're at it, change the play the ball to throwing it between the players legs in the middle of the field, bring the defence forward to only one yard from the "ruck", allow non ball handing attacking players to obstruct the defence and let attackers throw the ball forward.

Hang on, doesn't that sport already exist in America?

Anyway, two referees is not only pointless but also a pain in the anus. The reason we have one referee is so one man can call the decisions without consulting peers, therefore slowing the game down. Australian fans and critics have always complained about the game being slowed down, so why do they come up with ideas to make the problem worse? There is the argument that the referee has too much to look out for and gets offsides and forward passes wrong on a regular basis. But refereeing at a professional game is not difficult, as say, refereeing or umpiring any sport when assisted.

Here is the ideal scenario that the referee, touch judges, video referees and in-goal judges should follow. The man in the middle (wearing pink in Super League) focuses on the ruck and play the ball. He checks for infringement, if markers are square and correct play the balls. Touch judges check for offsides and forward passes. Both alternate tasks at half time, so one checks for offside and the other checks for forward passes. Simple. In-goal judges of course check for grounding of the ball and if a try has been scored while the video referee does the same job he has always done. While many want this technology scrapped, you must bear in mind the technology isn't getting the decisions wrong, its the person behind the red and green butons that is getting them wrong.

And on that note, there is no need for the NRL to bring in two referees. Whats Colin Love's number? Someone should let him know.