Watched it back again today and I wasn't as angry with the refereeing as I was immediately after Friday on the train home. As said, couple of Wigan knock ons that apparently went backwards and a couple of identical ones from us that were penalised seemed unfair but anyway...
What I would say though is Friday's game, between the same two teams with the same referee, was officiated entirely differently to the one at their place in the league. We all know what Donkey Kong actually means when he's twittering on about being a "details team" and "getting our details right in the ruck". He means they're going to put three men in and try every trick in the book to slow it down and stop a team getting a roll on. At Wigan in the league Thaler wouldn't have any of that, absolutely caned them early in the game, part of the reason we got into such a strong position to start with. Then on Friday - exact opposite, they could do pretty much whatever they liked, including moving sideways and miles off the mark at their own PTB.
I happen to think the refereeing is a lot better this season (though not the video refereeing) and has been benefited by an influx of new officials as opposed to the same six blokes getting games every week regardless of their form and fitness and us having to suffer Richard Silverwood all the time. I also quite like Thaler, contrary to most people's opinion. And I'm also avoiding a debate about whether Wigan's "details" should be penalised or rewarded as intelligent defence.
But what cannot be right is two teams play each other in May to one interpretation of the rules, and then they play each other again in July and the same referee applies the rules entirely differently. It' bad enough the lack of consistency from official to official, but to have the same bloke applying the same rules completely differently two months apart is a bit of a farce.
