Qld Premier Rugby 2024

[TSR]

He does appear to still hold a big chip on his shoulder from whatever went on at Brothers before his departure and it looks to me like the Brothers guys love to needle him. I think this is one of those things were the senior hard heads in the team tend to pull young guys into line. It takes longer for some guys than others but most guys improve with a little bit of experience.

I think you also see a lot of young hot heads tend to be more reserved at higher levels when they are a bit more in conscious of the level of player they are playing against. Not always the case - but I think that comes through often enough.

 

[Ras]

I will be honest, this is the second big game/opportunity he's blundered. Against Wales it was definitely a night to forget for Werchon and with Cartwright as his replacement that night I can see why he went into the weekends match emotionally charged.

 

[Reds Rick]

Was it a night to forget? He doesn’t stand out in my (admittedly poor) memory as having a particularly bad game. Maybe one poor kick? Heck if we were judging on that basis none of our Super 9’s would have made it out of club rugby..

 

[Bulldog]

I think he realised that this was a real opportunity for the Wests club and he wanted to impose himself on the game - yes Brothers baited him - he got it wrong but he did the same in the major. He could do well to becoming a lover because he’s not a fighter!!

 

[Bulldog]

I am more concerned by the fact that Connor Anderson headed straight from the field without shaking hands with Brothers and left the rest of the team out there for the presentation and left Henry Speight to do the speech on behalf of the club. I appreciate Anderson’s sense of disappointment but not his lack of sportsmanship/leadership - as Rudyard Kipling says treat wins & losses the same then you’ll be a man my son.
Henry to his credit was magnanimous in what he had to say - well done him.

 

[Watchingrugby]

Well said

 

[warhorse]

Not being a supporter of either Club, I turned off the TV coverage before the presentation and wasn't aware of the fact until you mentioned it here. Totally agree that to be a totally respected leader of a team, a captain must show as much grace in defeat as in victory.

 

[Brian O’Driscoll]

If my memory serves me correctly he did the same thing last year. Might be time for Wests to appoint a new captain.

 

[warhorse]

As far as I am aware he is off to play in Japan, so that was his last game for Wests for a while.

 

[Brian O’Driscoll]

Doesn’t excuse his poor behavior two years in row after being beaten…

 

[Confucius Say]

Watched the replay. A lot of 50/50 calls didn’t go the Bulldogs way particularly in the second half. The last penalty was similar to Ardie Savea penalty in AB v SA test so I think DM got that one right. However can see why Wests were a bit miffed with Murphy and his ARs. Werchon throwing mouth guard is just petulance.

- knock on for try (that ref was right next to and still got the wrong call) in the first half. Definitely pass tipped forward. Blind Freddie missed it.
- Alleged knock on by Gordon after he chips through in 42nd minute. Even Tim Horan said “he had an air swing”. Looks 50/50.
- loose carry by O’Connor carrying the ball in his palm is ruled knocked out by Wests 13. Brothers lineout awarded. Probably a knock on.
- O’Connor 2m forward pass to Will Wilson in front of Murphy in 58th minute (Wests nullified by winning pilfer at tackle). No impact.
- Brothers #19 miles off side on the inside from Cartwright kick on left flank but allowed to advance and put pressure on Speight. Penalty all year. No impact. Speight finds touch with good kick.
- line out throw not straight and caught by Ryan Smith on outside shoulder. Play on. 50/50.
- Brothers centre tackled out by Werchon and throws inside for Wests knock on. AR missed foot out but calls knock on. Big call.
- Christian 2m forward pass from base of ruck to Wood puts Brothers through a gap with Murphy close by missing it again. Brothers then drop ball. No impact.
- dubious scrum penalty when Wests not pushing straight then same happened later and Brothers still got the penalty. Hard to say.

The point is - every game has calls that could go either way.

I can see why Wests were gutted. They were up against it. Big asterisk next to this Grand Final for them maybe but their captain’s post match behaviour is a poor reflection on him and their 9’s bad sportsmanship lost them the game because they needed leadership and cool heads.

Good season finale. Got to take your hat off to the Brothers club for their success and to Henry Speight for saving Wests’ face with a classy post match address.

 

[TSR]

Time to let it go lads.

 

[Impartial Andy]

The fact this discussion is still going on a week after the game indicates that Murphy should not have officiated the final.

Test and Super Rugby make an obvious point to appoint referees who are clearly impartial to either side (being affiliated to an outside jurisdiction). The fact Murphy has such a strong affiliation to Brothers ruins this perception, even going into the game. From an outside view, it’s difficult to determine if Murphy’s decisions were biased or simple incompetence. However, because of his affliction, he isn’t awarded the same level of forgiveness as another referee might. It’s only made worse by the fact that the result was decided by a 50/50 scrum decision (a penalty against the feeding team who was going forward). It's unfortunate that such a good game is soured by an administrative error by the ARU and/or Queensland Rugby.

My question is, why not have Angus Gardner referee the QLD final and have Murphy referee the Shute Shielf final? Avoids all this nonsense?

 

[SamsSon]

Could have been handled better and unnecessarily raises issues that could easily be avoided.

 

[LevitatingSocks]

In an ideal world Murphy officiates a flawless game and this conversation never happens. But officiating rugby is a tough job and it's near impossible to call a perfect game, especially when so many rule interpretations are subjective.

Part of me thinks it's unavoidable to have a degree of club affiliation open to accusations of bias at the amateur level. And if he didn't have a prior affiliation with Brothers, then rightly or wrongly Wests would pick on something else as a potential source of bias. If we open the Pandora's box of considering sources of bias with officials where does it stop? No prior club affiliations? No personal affiliations with players or coaches? There's also the fact that logistically there are only so many officials of a certain level of quality/experience/availability to go around and amateur rugby doesn't have the financial backing to constantly be flying officials in.

Also worth considering whether we're making officiating a more unpleasant job these days. My understanding from people higher up at my club is that there's a real issue with getting people to want to referee or get involved.

I sympathize with Wests but there are also big picture considerations at play.

 

[Impartial Andy]

Some valid points to be said here. Just a few points for further consideration.

Realistically, the game on the weekend was full of fringe Super Rugby, fringe Wallabies and Wallabies legends playing in that game, so it should be considered at a minimum, a semi professional game, in my opinion, especially with the amount of media surrounding the game. So yes, I agree with you in that some elements of bias at an amateur level are unavoidable, in this circumstance, some effort to at least appear impartial is not a huge ask. A quick google search of Murphy and you can see the bloke has played over 150 games of first grade rugby for Brothers, so unlike the smaller biases you alluded to, this seems like a pretty clear and obvious conflict of interest.

In terms of finances, over the last few years, QLD and NSW have swapped referees during the regular season, so it’s obviously do able and well within the ARU's ability to do. Both Gardner and Murphy are members of the few referees in the country who are professional, so the work implications are also less of a concern in comparison to those amateur referees.

Yes, there are bigger considerations at hand, I’d argue however, if Rugby Australia can’t recognise and resolve simple things like this, we can’t be too optimistic moving forward.

 

[PhilClinton]

Important to note Wests didn’t dispute his appointment pre-game and no one from their club would have an issue if they had won.

Can’t have it both ways.

 

[SouthernX]

Team of the year of uncontracted players

Real shame there’s not this Matchday 23 going down to Sydney this weekend and playing in some type of QPR v Shute Shield all star game.

I like the club championship concept but a all star game between the 2 premiere club rugby comps would be a fun contest

 

[LevitatingSocks]

Agreed, the club championship in preseason always feels like a bit of an afterthought with all the roster changes that happen in the off-season.

 

[Hugh Jardon]

i think one thing we can all agree on is Connor Anderson being the biggest flog we have seen in a while.

Louis Werchon will be right. just needs a bit of guidence to calm the hot head. Still a decent player, just not his best performance on the day

one thing no one is talking about though. is wests having a full clean out of coaches? i think wests culture has taken a bit of a shift. would be good to see them back to being good blokes who you would have a beer with after the game