Rugby League: Refs may be sent from the NRL field

By PETER JESSUP

The pressure will be palpable when the struggling Auckland Warriors meet the equally inconsistent Canterbury Bulldogs in their National Rugby League match at Ericsson Stadium today, and no one will feel it more than referee Mark Oaten.

Not one round of the 15 played so far has passed without one club or another launching a rocket attack on the ref, touch judges and/or video ref, despite the surety of subsequent fines from the dogmatically dictatorial NRL.

The NRL has blindly defended its whistlers so far this season, but there was a chink this week, a hint of concern about refereeing standards within NRL ranks.

And Oaten, as a result, is one of three referees put on notice that they will be dropped to the first division if they do not "up" their performance.

Referees' chief Peter Louis this week spoke to Oaten - who handled the Canberra-Cowboys game last weekend - Warriors-Eagles game ref Mogsheen Jadwat and Paul Simpkins, who refereed the Storm-Tigers game.

Louis said the trio had been put on notice about their performances.

He said Jadwat had "gone okay" in the Warriors' game that caused so much controversy over the sending-off of Ali Lauiti'iti, but there was room for improvement.

Oaten dealt well with the Steve Kearney-Marcus Bai spear tackle on Jarrod McCracken, but missed another illegality by "Cherry" Mescia on Mark Geyer that resulted in a charge from video reviewer Jim Hall.

"They've been told to lift their games," Louis said.

Meanwhile, Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes is looking for a big step up in his team's defence against the Warriors after the Dogs' 24-30 loss to Newcastle last week.

"The Knights were pretty much on fire, but obviously we need to improve our defence," he said.

"It's not often that you concede 30 points and expect to win."

Auckland have to improve both in attack and defence.

They have the worst for-and-against record of the 14 teams, scoring 232, compared to the Dogs' 262 and leaders Newcastle's 366, while conceding 386 points compared to the Dogs' 264 and competition leaders the Brisbane Broncos' 206.

"They've been Jekyll and Hyde for much of the year, like most of the sides in this competition, including us," Folkes said.

"I'm not sure what the reason behind it is, but we know what they're like in Auckland.

"You only have to go back to last year to recall how good they can be over there [Auckland won 30-10], and two points are pretty important to both sides."

Bulldogs wing Daryl Halligan is closing in on the Australian league premiership points-scoring record of 1971 held by former Eels fullback Mick Cronin.

Halligan goes in today with 1940 points and an 88 per cent success rate this season, 49 goals from 56 attempts, with his four from four last week against Newcastle making a total of 16 goals in succession.

The Dogs have lost centre/second rower Darren Smith, rake Jason Hetherington and prop Steve Price to Queensland State of Origin duty, and back-up prop Dennis Scott is out with a knee injury.

They will be seriously weakened in talent, not so much in the run-on side, but certainly when they go to third-choice players from the bench.

"Losing those three is like Auckland losing three test players," Folkes said.

"But we got through okay against the Cowboys [in the week of Origin One] and we're fairly happy with our depth in all positions other than the outside backs."

The Warriors need to run their big forwards at the Dogs' rookie standoff Brent Sherwin on attack, and to pressure Ricky Stuart and Sherwin when they have the ball.

The Dogs' attack has been ordinary all year, relying simply on error-free sets and a big kick from Stuart, and they will fancy their chances in putting bombs to the Warriors' outsides.

The teams have met eight times, for four wins to the Dogs, three to Auckland and this year's 18-all draw at Stadium Australia.

That last result, and last weekend's victory, will have the Warriors believing they can win - but will it be false resolve, as it was at Wollongong a fortnight ago?

Warriors: Scott Pethybridge, Odell Manuel, David Myles, Nigel Vagana, Lee Oudenryn, John Simon (c), Stacey Jones, Joe Vagana, Robert Mears, Terry Hermansson, Logan Swann, Tony Tuimamave, Monty Betham. Interchange: Jason Bell, Shontayne Hape, Ali Lauiti'iti, Jerry Seuseu.

Bulldogs: Rod Silva, Hazem El Masri, Glen Hughes, Shane Marteene, Daryl Halligan, Brent Sherwin, Ricky Stuart, Troy Stone, Adam Perry, Darren Britt (c), Steve Reardon, Brad Clyde, Travis Norton. Interchange: Craig Polla-Mounter, Jamie Feeney, Willie Mason, Barry Ward.