It went largely unnoticed during a week that contained the ongoing David Klemmer contract situation as well as a massive player move in the form of Josh McGuire to the Cowboys, but a very important announcement was made during the week.
NRL official Graham Annesley has been placed in a role to oversee the referees ranks after a horror 2018 season that seemed to focus just as much on refereeing clangers as it did brilliant rugby league.
Tony Archer has paid the price for his role in the debacle that saw record penalties and almost gamely sin-bins, allowing Annesley to run the show.
Many may remember Annesley for his short stint in state politics, or most recently his role at the Titans, but this is a man with more than 250 games of refereeing experience.
The move is obviously meant to move on from the headline grabbing refereeing mess that summed up the early rounds of the 2018 season.
No one will forget the penalty-a-thon that marred the Sharks vs Storm game on that infamous Friday night in the shire. Although it was hilarious to razz Cam Smith after his sin-binning, the game was an absolute stinker due to Matt Cecchin blowing the pea out of his whistle.
Annesley has come out and stated that he wants the referees to "stay out of the game unless absolutely necessary."
As a fan of the greatest game of all, I could not agree more.
At first I was all for the supposed crack down but it soon became a joke and an absolute blight on the game. I'd literally sit and wait for the whistle during every single set of the game.
Yes, most penalties were justified, but when referees starting blowing regular penalties for a winger being half a metre off-side 30 metres from the play the ball, it all became too much.
There was even a thought that game plans became centred around forcing penalties and creating an opportunity to gain a one-man advantage after a sin-binning.
I was over joyed when the supposed crack down was called off for one, simple fact; the referees should never, EVER grab the headlines.
A good referee is one that you have to look up after a contest to confirm who the referee actually was.
Yes, there are games that require a controversial decision to be made meaning referees dominate the post-game talk, but this became every game.
You could literally copy and paste the post match reports. "Referee x makes y mistakes, costing team Z two competition points in absolute bore-fest."
I for one welcome the Annesley appointment, and quote.
I was sick of tuning in to see the likes of Munster and Addo Carr vs Holmes and Moylan, only for the game to be dictated by the man in the middle with the whistle.
This is good news. Great news.
Yes, penalties will continue to be blown, but Annelsey has already made reference to one of the greatest frustrations in our otherwise perfect game ... even penalty counts.
It's funny how almost every game ends with a penalty count that is even.
It's not so funny how often penalty counts start off very lop sided, only to see a side play exactly the same in the second half only to be severely penalised.
Not every game needs an even penalty count. The players should dictate the penalty count, not the referees.
Lay in the ruck, cop a penalty. High tackle, penalty. A player 40 metres from play drifting half a metre off-side despite a blind side play being run. NOT A PENALTY!
This is great news.
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I just want to take a second to address those who have taken to social media to say this means more Storm, Roosters, Rabbits and Sharks victories due to those four sides being favoured by the new rules.
The fact that these four sides, the 2018 top four sides, were targeted is almost too funny. There's a reason they made up the top four, and it wasn't the refereeing.
To those who pointed out that the Roosters came good following the end of the refereeing crack down.
No NRL Premiership is ever won in the opening two months of the season. Just ask fans of the Dragons.
James Tedesco, Cooper Cronk and co. took time to gel as a unit. The refereeing crack down was a pure coincidence. So to the Sharks with Josh Dugan and Matt Moylan.
South Sydney started the season on fire. They ended it on fire. The Storm lead the competition for weeks than not from memory, both before and after the penalty-a-thons.
Just because the four best sides rose at the end of the season, as they literally always do, doesn't add any weight to arguments that the refereeing back down helped them, or any other side.
Good teams win games regardless of refereeing orders and performances.
The Dragons loss in form had nothing to do with refereeing, it had everything to do with other sides working them out combined with injuries and Origin fatigue.
It's funny that none of the fans of sides who finished top four (or eight) are complaining.
Again, must be coincidence.
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