NRL halve $10,000 Furner fine after Raiders apology

[greeneyed]

Furner fined $10,000 for comments on referees

http://www.nrl.com/furner-fined-for-ref ... fault.aspx

[Decorous Muse]

the oppressive regime rolls on

[Zip Zip]

Ordinary decision.

[Aero]

Should get Bill Harrigan to explain the 13-15m that the ref's were holding in our game

[-GD-]

LOL

[Raider Bell]

To be honest I think it's ok because we can't let our sport turn into soccer where everyone gets away with acting like kids screaming at refs, but it's a tough call because long and short the refs got it wrong and what furner said has merit.

[Pinkachu]

Can we fine the refs $10,000 for being sh*t?

[JohanV]

You can't accuse referees of bias, which Furner did. I though he overstepped the mark looking at the press conference on fox sports.

[pickles]

Another example of Harrigan sweeping the incompetence if his referees under the table. Acknowledged they missed a blatant knock on but not the inconsistency of the application of the rules.

And Furner is 100% correct in saying that the refs would have expected Manly to win. Everyone expected Manly to win! I'm sure the Raiders will contest this.

Will be interesting to see what the refs do this weekend in our game. Will they punish us for bagging them or give us an even up?

I also believe that Furner has every right to be angry. His job and reputation are on the line and twice clear errors have cost us the chance to win a game. 2 more wins and Furner is cruising instead of being under the pump!

[edwahu]

The Raiders should refuse to pay. He has not said a thing about the refs integrity.

One day a smart club will do the testing to show whether the refs are unconsciously bias, and the NRL may find itself with real problems.

[markqt]

I don't really think you can really do anything with the knock on they missed. Refs are always going to make mistakes here and there. That is an unfortunate one they did not pick up. Moving on from that...

Furner has the right to question the referees about the offside penalties we had. Footage from the pregame showed on fox yesterday the ref was 13-14m behind the line. Harrigan blatently said a few weeks ago, referees will be consistent and be standing exactly behind the 10. Obviously not....

[bonehead]

money well spent

[Greenmachine77]

I always think when one of these $10k fines gets issued, I bet the coach wishes he went right off his nut and made it worth it. DF was pissed off but the Raiders get served with $10k fine cause of what he said yet if he said "The refs are blind rotten cheats and have no f..n idea" or "Bill Harrigan is a F!%$!@n @and*^)!! who is incompetent, etc etc - it would still be a $10k fine !

Make it worth it next time Dave

[KW]

Mark Webber should come out and announce "its my shout"

KW

[Stuat]

The Raiders should refuse to pay. He has not said a thing about the refs integrity.

One day a smart club will do the testing to show whether the refs are unconsciously bias, and the NRL may find itself with real problems.

There is no doubt unconscious bias exists in the NRL. The video ref stats provide very good evidence of it.

If I was the raiders, I'd be going back through video of our games and looking at all the penalties and all the non penalties- timing how long players are held down in holding down penalties and how many times that happens in a game without a penalty. Same for offside etc etc etc The video ref data suggest they would find a result in our favour. If they do send it to the NRL and the papers.

[yeh raiders]

Refuse to pay.. but offer to trade $10,000 for 2 points. Fair ?

[semaj97]

Is there a video of his comments, because I would like to know what all of the fuss is about

[Green eyed Mick]

You can't accuse referees of bias, which Furner did. I though he overstepped the mark looking at the press conference on fox sports.

Exactly. There were a few bad decisions and Furner had every right to mention them. However to backhandedly accuse them of deliberate bias is not on and just makes Dave look unprofessional. Call Harrigan, vent your spleen in private but going off half cocked in a press conference is amateurish IMO.

[Raidersrawesome]

Check media conferences on the Foxsports website.

As someone said above he should have gone off his nut to make it 10 grand well spent , what he said doesn't justify the fine

[Wiggy]

You can't accuse referees of bias, which Furner did. I though he overstepped the mark looking at the press conference on fox sports.

Exactly. There were a few bad decisions and Furner had every right to mention them. However to backhandedly accuse them of deliberate bias is not on and just makes Dave look unprofessional. Call Harrigan, vent your spleen in private but going off half cocked in a press conference is amateurish IMO.

Wow, who would have thought you would be on the anti-Furner side of this debate. I'm shocked

[KW]

is it just me, or does the VR take 10 looks at every raiders try that is referred, but takes one or two at any other team before the inevitable green light is given?

Conspiracy for sure.

[Schifty]

Should have spent the 10k better and told Bill to go **** himself.

[Green eyed Mick]

You can't accuse referees of bias, which Furner did. I though he overstepped the mark looking at the press conference on fox sports.

Exactly. There were a few bad decisions and Furner had every right to mention them. However to backhandedly accuse them of deliberate bias is not on and just makes Dave look unprofessional. Call Harrigan, vent your spleen in private but going off half cocked in a press conference is amateurish IMO.

Wow, who would have thought you would be on the anti-Furner side of this debate. I'm shocked

It is what it is. The NRL happened to think Furner was out of line and Furner got fined. I happened to think Furner was out of line. It has **** all to do with club loyalty or my opinion on Dave's coaching.

Check media conferences on the Foxsports website.

As someone said above he should have gone off his nut to make it 10 grand well spent , what he said doesn't justify the fine

Seriously? You people want to see Dave go into a press conference and call ref cheats? and Harrigan a ****? If Dave did that the NRL would suspend him, fine the club 6 figures and the club would be a laughing stock.

Get some perspective. Dave did the wrong thing, dealt with the situation poorly and received a fine for his trouble.

[Raidersrawesome]

I thought Dave trod close to the line , my point was if he was going to be fined for what he said he might as well unloaded.

[greeneyed]

The Raiders should refuse to pay. He has not said a thing about the refs integrity.

One day a smart club will do the testing to show whether the refs are unconsciously bias, and the NRL may find itself with real problems.

This was exactly the point I was about to make. It is well known match officials have unconscious bias, this is why the top teams get he 50-50 calls their way. It is time the refs had help in understanding and combatting this unconscious bias. Furner did not say the refs were biased. At most he suggested they may have been unconsciously influenced by expectations of which team would win. This is a well understood scientifically proven phenomenon.

The Raiders should contest the fine.

They probably won't because it'll cost even more to contest it.

But it is not a just outcome.

[LP Raider]

is it just me, or does the VR take 10 looks at every raiders try that is referred, but takes one or two at any other team before the inevitable green light is given?

Conspiracy for sure.

100%, the Sharks game was a perfect example.

Sharks first try the ref had one look and awarded it, RR try at the end was clearly OK and the VR took an eternity to award.

[Shadow Boxer]

I thought the ref took too long to call held on Dugan's try, does that count ?

[greeneyed]

Raiders coach fined $10,000



Canberra Raiders coach David Furner has been fined $10,000 over post-match comments questioning referees' impartiality during Sunday's 18-12 defeat to Manly.

The under-pressure Furner's side were not helped in the hard-fought contest by an apparent knock-on from the Sea Eagles' Jorge Taufua, deep in his own half, not being called late in the game.

The Australia Rugby League Commission took umbrage at Furner hinting that his side were not given a chance of winning.

"I don't think anyone expected us to come here and win, and maybe not them," Furner said.

The ARL felt this crossed the line between criticising officials' performance and accusing them of bias.

"Coaches have the right to criticise a referee's performance and to express their views but questioning a match official's integrity is unacceptable," ARL official Nathan McGuirk said.

"There was a clear inference in Mr Furner's comments that the match officials had a pre-determined view of the result of the game."

The Raiders have five business days to respond to the charge.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-08/r ... 00/3997792

[Green eyed Mick]

The Raiders should refuse to pay. He has not said a thing about the refs integrity.

One day a smart club will do the testing to show whether the refs are unconsciously bias, and the NRL may find itself with real problems.

This was exactly the point I was about to make. It is well known match officials have unconscious bias, this is why the top teams get he 50-50 calls their way. It is time the refs had help in understanding and combatting this unconscious bias. Furner did not say the refs were biased. At most he suggested they may have been unconsciously influenced by expectations of which team would win. This is a well understood scientifically proven phenomenon.

The Raiders should contest the fine.

They probably won't because it'll cost even more to contest it.

But it is not a just outcome.

The fine is not about questioning the decisions or if the decisions were correct or incorrect. It is about the manner in which Dave chose to do it. If Dave had of indicated he would speak to Harrigan and left it at that he would not have been fined.

[Wiggy]

I happened to think Furner was out of line. It has **** all to do with club loyalty or my opinion on Dave's coaching.

I have no doubt that you think Furner was out of line, and you don’t think it has anything to do with your bias, just like if you ask the refs about the game, they would confirm at no stage did they think "well the Raiders are probably going to lose this so I'm going to penalise".

That’s because its unconscious bias that others have mentioned that’s at play. This is why I think the fine is unfair. As a coach Furner cannot complain about the Ref's integrity, but I don’t think he did that.

Complaining that the ref’s may have been unconsciously bias is way different then complaining that they acted without integrity.

[greeneyed]

Raiders still deciding whether to contest 10,000 fine

The Canberra Raiders have been slapped with a $10,000 fine after coach David Furner questioned the integrity of the referees after Sunday's 18-12 loss to Manly. The Raiders are still deciding whether they will contest the decision, and have until Friday to do so.

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/rugby-l ... 1ya43.html

[Green eyed Mick]

I happened to think Furner was out of line. It has **** all to do with club loyalty or my opinion on Dave's coaching.

I have no doubt that you think Furner was out of line, and you don’t think it has anything to do with your bias, just like if you ask the refs about the game, they would confirm at no stage did they think "well the Raiders are probably going to lose this so I'm going to penalise".

That’s because its unconscious bias that others have mentioned that’s at play. This is why I think the fine is unfair. As a coach Furner cannot complain about the Ref's integrity, but I don’t think he did that.

Complaining that the ref’s may have been unconsciously bias is way different then complaining that they acted without integrity.

Nice Try. However saying the refs made some mistakes is VERY different to saying the refs were bias. The fact that he implied they were unconsciously bias still implies that their decisions were deliberate and not mistakes.

[Lucky]

Greg Alexander should be fined $10 000 for bias against the raiders....
He was in commentary last night for the sharks v rabbits and you can clearly see how much he hates the raiders....
When its a controversial call in our games he quickly takes the other teams side, but in the game he called last night he gave both teams a fair go, and he wasn't so harsh on the players when they made an error... when the raiders make an error he goes on and on saying how bad they are.

[greeneyed]

I happened to think Furner was out of line. It has **** all to do with club loyalty or my opinion on Dave's coaching.

I have no doubt that you think Furner was out of line, and you don’t think it has anything to do with your bias, just like if you ask the refs about the game, they would confirm at no stage did they think "well the Raiders are probably going to lose this so I'm going to penalise".

That’s because its unconscious bias that others have mentioned that’s at play. This is why I think the fine is unfair. As a coach Furner cannot complain about the Ref's integrity, but I don’t think he did that.

Complaining that the ref’s may have been unconsciously bias is way different then complaining that they acted without integrity.

Nice Try. However saying the refs made some mistakes is VERY different to saying the refs were bias. The fact that he implied they were unconsciously bias still implies that their decisions were deliberate and not mistakes.

No unconscious bias is the opposite of deliberate.

[Wiggy]

Nice Try. However saying the refs made some mistakes is VERY different to saying the refs were bias. The fact that he implied they were unconsciously bias still implies that their decisions were deliberate and not mistakes.

I dont agree, if they don't know about the bias, then they cant be deliberate.