There are two schools in AIC / GPS that I know of that have clocks that count down time during a game - IGS and St Peters and inevitably they stuff it up every time. The laws of the game say that the referee is the sole judge of time, so a number of questions must be asked
1. Under whose authority did the schools install these clocks?
2. Who is operating these clocks?
3. If the referee is the sole judge of time, why use the clocks at all?
The only level where clocks operate in Brisbane is for games at Super 14 and Test level at Suncorp and at these games, the clock is run by trained timekeepers who are senior referees. Also any Ballymore games with injury time have the same deal.
GPS and AIC 1st XV by laws allow for stoppage time and this could be for injury, running on substitutions, the ref taking a TJ report or even for tieing up a bootlace. Do the operators of these scoreboard clocks (or some readers in the forum) know this? Probably not.
For the record, at the St Peters v Eddies game, when the clock couldn't even keep time properly in the "no time off" 2nds game, at least there was a common sense decision made on the run in the 1sts to stop the clock with 5 to go - an old rugby league trick from years gone by. The only solution for IGS is to do the same so that there is no controversy.