You've had your answer as to how it's done in Nat 2 North when I'm doing it so please carry on your one man crusade to change the status quo without me. Cheers.
I don't blame you for following protocol, LLP, the next time I am an AR I will do the same, as it's protocol
(with one exception - I'm not going to make a signal that I believe is wrong)
But the protocol needs a rethink
Or to put it more generally .. do ARs stand in the best place ? I don't think they do. They stand too close to the posts and very often can't see clearly. .Maybe the TJs shouldn't even go behind sticks. In all my years I've rarely needed their input. If I can judge a drop goal on the run I can judge a PK and conversion
There seems to be a general acceptance that very likely only one AR will be able to see properly, and the other should fall in . Thats sub optimal
Why dont both ARs stand somewhere they both get a good view ?
So three proposals..Nobody is saying that the process that LLP has outlined is perfect. It has generally been accepted that it is better than any other process at the moment. What other process would be better?
1 adjust positioning (Stand further back) so you can both see properly and make a good judgement
2 Adopt the flag swipe as an official signal for "miss", so that we can distinguish "miss" (swipe) from "don't know" (no signal)
3 prioritise reaching the correct outcome as more important than both ARs making the same signal.
So the ARs signal independently and if the two ARs don't agree or don't know then it's clearly the refs call , and the ref has full information on what the ARs thought
I think those three simple changes would make for a better protocol, with the correct decision arrived at more often
I don't think we can set out a protocol for press ganged sub TJs , they won't read it, they will just continue to do their best, as they do now.I do think there's some merit in having a different protocol for TJs, who have a stake in the game and opposing goals, vs ARs who have the same goals in mind with each other. Perhaps uncertainty among TJs should have some indication so the ref can sort it out. Whereas uncertainty by the ARs goes to the one who had better sight on the call.
Having a miss signal would help (but most press ganged TJs already use it in fact)
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