The NRL can no longer pretend everything is okay with refereeing and rules

I really, really don't want to be sitting here on a Monday morning talking about the standard and consistency of NRL officiating.

In fact, I'll go as far as to say I hate it.

I umpire cricket on my weekends, so know exactly how difficult and unforgiving officiating sport is.

I'd much prefer to be talking about the games, who is going to make the top eight, and which players need to pull their socks up on the run home, but instead, the only talking points out of the weekend stem from refereeing.

The Roosters and Warriors won? Yeah, cool, but they had plenty go their way as part of uninspired performances.

The Dragons fought really hard? Yeah, again, cool, but Damien Cook came out after the game and suggested his side have been copping the rough end of the stick all year, not exactly a long bow to draw either just quietly.

The Titans got a huge win over the Sea Eagles to kick clear of the wooden spoon? Again, cool, but Tino Fa'asuamaleaui pleading with the referee for any semblance of consistency around offside rulings will be the headline.

The Bulldogs won? Pretty good performance, really. Sean O'Sullivan is a halfback. Yet, all anyone can talk about is backwards passes being called forward and a sin bin leading to a Grade 3 charge for a bloke who didn't do anything intentionally wrong.

One or two out of each weekend is understandable, but when the standard of refereeing seems to be the talking point among fans far and wide out of not just this weekend, but every weekend, it's a major, major problem for a code that just signed an Australian record-breaking TV deal.

The thing is, normally you could shrug your shoulders, suggest mistakes happen, and get on with life.

But it's beyond all levels of comprehension some of the decisions that came out of the weekend just gone, and the sentiment of fans is that they are fast approaching the end of the rope in terms of patience with the code and its officiating.

It's not that the on-field officials missing things is a new phenomenon, and you can understand it given the pace of the game, and the number of changes to the rule book in recent times.

But even then, the inconsistency of six-agains, and maybe more importantly, lack of accountability that has been brought in as a result of less penalties and more set restarts, will raise eyebrows.

Forward passes are another incredibly poorly officiated area of the game.

Just on Saturday night, we saw the Warriors allowed to score off a forward pass just after halftime which was thrown right in front of the touch judge and was blatant, before in the first half of the next game, two Tigers passes that appeared to go backwards were called forward.

Forward passes have been a problem for years of course, but in a world where the FIFA World Cup can now detect if the ball has touched a hair on a player in an offside position, that the NRL can't have technology to determine forward passes is a blight.

Again, a $5 billion broadcast deal has just been signed.

That Dragons-Warriors game had other issues. An escort penalty for Valentine Holmes running directly towards the football, something that hasn't been penalised at all this year, was the tip of the iceberg that had plenty of sharp edges.

Damien Cook, frustrated at the way his side have been officiated this year, wasted no time in calling it out post-game, asking whether the decisions had happened because the Dragons are at the bottom of the table and it makes it 'easy'.

“We're not getting rewarded for the effort we're putting in,” a frustrated Cook said.

“The Warriors got a lot of stuff out there, we're putting a lot of effort, we're fighting for play the balls, we're not getting the same six agains.

“We come out of half time, they throw a forward pass, we're chasing points straight away when we're in control of that game. It's just not right.

”I feel sorry for the fans that have to have to watch that, but it's happening too many times to us.

“I don't know if it's because we're sitting down the bottom, it's an easy one to throw off because you know the Warriors should win today. I think it's unfair, and we deserve better moving forward.

”It's a tough place to come to, but I'm proud of the boys in how we fought through the whole game and got on with it.”

Most of what Cook was seriously frustrated about came from the bunker, and so too did a mind-boggling offside call on Sunday afternoon, with the Manly Sea Eagles able to score with Reuben Garrick seemingly ahead of the kicker.

Yes it was a tight call, but he was certainly in front. You could probably argue even more than Max Plath was in Game 3 of the State of Origin during a pivotal moment where it appeared Queensland had scored.

Titans captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui made no secret of his displeasure to the referee when the try was awarded to Garrick.

“That was the same as Max Plath in Origin. He's offside. That's a crucial call. How can it be so inconsistent?” asked Fa'asuamaleaui of the referee.

When you have two representative calibre players calling out the consistency of refereeing in less than a 24-hour window, it doesn't really need to be said exactly what the biggest problem in the sport is right now.

The obstruction rule is also back in the headlines, with the Roosters able to have a try stand off a blatant one on Friday evening, and the Rabbitohs being denied one for a defensive decision on David Fifita as he ran a decoy on Saturday in Canberra.

Fifita's instance actually saw him try to get through the line, only for a Raiders defender to line him up and make a tackle.

The Roosters-Storm game was another that had big issues.

The NRL seemingly have advised officials to check everything with the bunker, yet, with the Storm about to score in a critical part of the game, a knock on in an aerial challenge from Will Warbrick was called.

Replays seemed to indicate he didn't actually touch the football, and that a Storm try should have resulted from the play.

To make matters worse, Daly Cherry-Evans then kicked a 40/20, and the Roosters scored off the back of it.

A 12-point swing, potentially, in a game which was decided by as many points, all because the process wasn't followed - or at least, what the consistent approach would have you believe the process is. To check everything you can.

Process, in cricket officiating, is absolutely everything.

Every single ball, you're going through what has happened in your head. Where did it pitch? Where was the bat? Was the ball hitting the stumps? Has it taken an edge?

It's about routine and consistency.

That's not to say NRL officials don't have processes in place, but the number of eyebrow-raising decisions coming from the bunker right now would indicate the process needs fixing, improving, and rectifying.

On-field officials have the toughest job in the sport. It's unforgiving, but they are also paid well, and can not be the constant talking point as they come off the field each week, almost to the point of being each game.

You can't ask for 100 per cent accuracy, but you should be getting pretty close from the bunker.

There is probably no easy fix for the NRL, but something needs to happen, and fast.

The finals series and interest in the sport is depending on it.