He wasn't biased, just looked a little out of his depth at times. We certainly got the better of his decisions, but to have a go at him on an occasion like this one if a bit unfair, IMO. He didn't win or lose anyone the game, tried to keep the game flowing, wasn't petty in his decision-making. He missed a few things, but come on, give the guy a break, it can't have been easy for him either.
Do you think Mr Halibut was feeling the same as everyone else at that match? I wouldn't like to have been in his shoes last night. It was a stressful game for everyone. He did make some errors - like not noticing the ball spining on its axis as it was stolen from Cunningham under the posts (but was alleged a knock on - Cunningham looked bemused). Stevo and Eddie babes couldn't believe that decision as it was so obvious. Balls don't spin like that when they've been dropped! And there were other decisions for both sides which didn't quite look kosher.
Still. My experience of Mr Halibut is that he is better than he was last night, much as my experience of Wakey is that they are better than they were last night (we might be too, I don't know, we only had 14 men by the end - I couldn't keep up with what was going on in my own team).
I reckon the guy needs to be cut some slack, same as everyone on Friday night, given the circumstances. He's an ok ref normally.
First I'd seen Thierry Alibert reffing in the flesh on Friday night and my word...
A COWARDLY, SURRENDERMONKEYING, ROAD-BLOCKING, PERMINANT-STRIKING, ROS-BEEF-CALLING, HORSE-EATING, NO-BRAINER.
You should never use a video referee to judge a GLDO, that's just fundamental basic ref etiquette. Complete idiot. The sooner the RFL realise the mistake they've made in hiring him and say <<au revoir>> to him the better.
Or better still, if anyone knows where this René Artois soundalike stays, I'd drive him back to France myself.
First I'd seen Thierry Alibert reffing in the flesh on Friday night and my word...
A COWARDLY, SURRENDERMONKEYING, ROAD-BLOCKING, PERMINANT-STRIKING, ROS-BEEF-CALLING, HORSE-EATING, NO-BRAINER.
You should never use a video referee to judge a GLDO, that's just fundamental basic ref etiquette. Complete idiot. The sooner the RFL realise the mistake they've made in hiring him and say <<au revoir>> to him the better.
Why not? What's wrong with checking a decision you're not sure on?
Nice work with the capitalised comments, really add credibility.
If he wasn't French, would he gets as much vitriol from so many?
Personally, from a neutral's POV (Widnes fan) who was at the game to pay respects to Mr Walker, I thought Alibert wasn't too bad. And I still thought that when I watched it back on the tele when I got in. Yeah, there were things he got wrong for both sides (For Wakey, several high shots went amiss, and several markers not square too, for Saints several balls were stolen, and they were penalised harshly at times) but I challenge you to name a ref who gets every call correct, picks up on every single misdemeanour in a game. There isn't one, as the refs are only human.
Why shouldn't use VR to judge GLDO, it's not basic 'ref-etiquette' as you call it. It's in the rules as being legal, so why not utilise it if you aren't sure?
He just didn't seem in control of the game. Saints were blatantly offside quite often but rarely pulled up for it, which can be match-losing as they are fast enough off the mark as it is, and so if you lose a couple of yards, you've no chance and are always on the back foot.
He just didn't seem in control of the game. Saints were blatantly offside quite often but rarely pulled up for it, which can be match-losing as they are fast enough off the mark as it is, and so if you lose a couple of yards, you've no chance and are always on the back foot.
Alibert was holding a very big ten, in fact it was verging on 15 m at times.