It was on Breakdown a week or so go, think it was when O'Keefe was on show, was part of discussion on making game a bit quicker and wasn't meant as a criticism of Aus refs, just saying how they were coming down etc. Mind you I don't know if Aussie's ratings are up or down on last year, but was throwing ideas into pot.
As I said I wouldn't be surprised if NZ numbers were down, getting a little same ol with same teams playing each other a lot.
I usually watched almost all Aussie games from here in NZ last year, but not as much this year, and personally don't know anyone who is watching them here this year. I get idea that a lot are waiting for different games? Not sure just a guess.