Fact vs Opinion; it’s nothing new in rugby league.
Fan bases are naturally passionate and one eyed. As a fan base, Eels supporters are no better, no worse than other clubs. We all have our opinions.
Unfortunately, my pregame opinion that I expressed during our family drive to CommBank Stadium on Monday became fact.
I said that the game better not be close near full time because I fear that a penalty will be found to decide the match.
Sections of the media, particularly those on the 360 program, described the penalty to level the scores late in the game as a square up after the bunker penalty decision had given the Eels a two point lead.
What was infuriating for Eels fans was that Mr Gough penalised Sam Tuivati for a tackle which clearly bounced off the shoulder, making no contact with the head, after earlier ignoring a high shot on Kelma Tuilagi which forced him off the field for a HIA.
Peter Gough
What should have been a penalty eleven minutes earlier, from about 30 metres out and directly in front was not to be. Then a tackle that was legal was punished. Both were seen, and somehow the only one penalised was the one that did not make contact with the head.
And just a minute or two beforehand, there would have been no penalty for the high shot on Moses without Mitch’s challenge. Again, it was seen by the referee but not acted upon.
Winning football games comes down to winning key moments. Players and coaches have to focus on those that they can control. To do anything else is at their own peril.
Refereeing decisions are sometimes out of the control of the players. Across the course of a season, the fortunate calls and the bad calls mostly (emphasise mostly) level out.
However, for the Eels, under one referee that levelling out just hasn’t ever occurred.
Eels fans have previously voiced their concerns over their team’s results in matches controlled by Mr Gough. We aren’t suggesting anything untoward, but referees prepare for matches in much the same way as players do, with physical training and with video review.
They are human, and such preparations mean that they will understandably have preconceived ideas about what specific teams, and indeed individual players, will do in matches. In other words, they have trained to be aware of certain actions by teams and players.
This isn’t a new concept. Bill Harrigan revealed such preparations in the past. Certain coaches and players have also complained about how they are unfairly targeted by particular referees.
Trent Robinson did just that with Gerrard Sutton in July 2022 when he expressed his belief that Mr Sutton had a bias against the Roosters. It worked. The club backed Robinson and while the NRL publicly supported Sutton their actions said otherwise because in the coming months he was not placed on Roosters games.
Gerard Sutton
And so, when referees prepare in this manner, there is the predisposition to look unfavourably on specific tactics or actions.
Now let’s look at some raw data. Since 2016, Gough has been the lead referee in 29 matches involving the Eels. The Eels have won just ten of those matches, for a percentage of 34.5%.
This places him at the lowest win percentage for current referees controlling Eels games. Furthermore, the Eels have lost seven of their last nine games under Gough.
As further evidence, I offer his control of the Eels Magic Round loss to the Sharks in 2025, and the Eels two point loss to the Panthers in round 23 of 2024. The 50/50 calls that were made were significant in the results and highlight why the overall record stands as it does.
And on Tuesday we learnt that Mr Gough will not be controlling any NRL match this coming weekend. Has he been relegated, as he should be for missing key calls on the weekend?
The NRL won’t acknowledge that. What they apparently do is “rotate” match officials whenever required.
It is difficult for Eels fans to ignore the raw data. Different coaches, players, playing style, it doesn’t matter. Gough and Parra go together like oil and water!
If we ignore any “rotating the officials” line from the NRL, then maybe, just maybe, the NRL has acknowledged Gough’s below standard officiating.
You don’t have to dig too hard to discover that Mr Gough has been a first grade referee for 10 years and has never been appointed as head referee for a finals game. Not once. Younger, much less experienced referees have been appointed over him. Surely an experienced referee with all that expert coaching can progress up the ranks and be trusted to perform under pressure in a big game.
Jason Ryles won’t blame match officials for losses. Such blaming would only provide an excuse for players not willing to look in the mirror about moments that went wrong. And without doubt, the Eels lost moments that they should have won where they can only blame themselves.
However as a club, if Mr Gough’s future officiating is as poor as this past weekend, then to borrow some recent commentary, we should look to apply the blowtorch in post match opinions.
Why?
Not only does the standard of officiating cause obvious frustration for the players on the field, it also results in a crowd of around 30 000 people (which would translate to gross gate takings of over $1.5 million based on a conservative $50 a ticket) who end up either venting at the ref or each other over not one or two contentious calls but a library of blatantly erroneous ones.
That can’t be good for the game, and as stated before, maybe even the NRL has reacted accordingly. The reality is, that had those decisions come with game stoppages, any challenge would have been successful. As it was, at least one big call was made in a manner that prevented a challenge (see the Williams incident).
Now let’s turn to the frustration of the players, specifically a veteran player such as Mitch Moses. Some of the post game rants about Moses and his protestations have been absurd. News flash… a ten year veteran official allowed that to continue.
And when it came to the issue of touching the referee, Gough was not blameless. I offer the following image as evidence, and it was possibly a contributing factor in Moses only receiving an official warning. Note the time in the game that this occurred.
That looks like Gough with his hand on Moses
This column might be seen as targeting a particular referee. But I have made a point on focussing on performances (or refereeing form) and not been personal. Often times, players, coaches and club officials aren’t afforded the same consideration in fan responses.
As for the game itself, it was a tough physical contest. Both teams played with aggression and although I hated the Bailey Simonsson injury I think for the most part both teams walked that fine line of controlled aggression.
I respect how the Tigers are bringing in young players and are playing an energetic game of footy. I respect what Benji is doing and genuinely wish them success this year. I truely do. But, I do want to respond to an answer given by Benji post match and a common discourse that is annoying me about injuries and suspension/ punishment.
“If he didn’t get injured he would not be ….. “( getting sinned bin or suspended).
In life actions have consequences and if we make the choice to break laws and someone gets injured or is impeded that is taken into account and consequences are more severe.
If I drive 20kms over the limit and hit another car but no one is injured I am charged with speeding and dangerous driving. However if I am doing 20km over the limit but kill someone I get charged with dangerous driving causing death and a much more serious sentence is given.
So the offence is identical, but if the impact on others is different then the punishment reflects that.
Yet somehow people want us to completely ignore the injury suffered by players due to foul play and the poor decision making of their opponents.
Nobody is suggesting an intent to harm by the perpetrator. Nobody is suggesting a season long suspension to match the injury. But to complain about a consequence of a sin bin or a week’s suspension is beyond ludicrous.
And when the cost of long term injury from illegal tackles is not met with cap dispensation by the governing body, then the only punishment is suffered by the victims.
Now let’s examine where the referee’s call on the spot was determined due to the outcome. Dylan Walker was penalised for being offside in the ruck, an offence that under “PVL Football” results in a six again call numerous times in every game.
Dylan Walker
But in this instance, because the pressure from the player resulted in a missed field goal, the punishment was more severe.
So Benji and others arguing that the consequence of an action should not determine the punishment are completing ignoring other examples in a game.
I use this example, not to argue against the penalty but to point out the hypocrisy. When a player is badly injured via foul play, the punishment has to be more severe just like when an offside play impacts a game winning action the punishment is more severe. That is our game, in fact, that is life.
Furthermore, severe injuries might not just impact a season, they might impact careers and therefore have life altering consequences. The Eels have lost three players to long term injuries, two of them season ending, as a direct result of illegal tackles. Courts have victim impact statements for judges to take consequences into consideration when sentencing. We cannot have a game that does not consider injury or outcome.
This was a game that was brutal for Parra on the scoreboard and in the rehab room. My only message to Parra fans is that players tried their guts out last Monday. They gave every bit of energy they had. The team is busted and while we cannot change the injury toll we can help by turning up in big numbers this week against the Titans.
Reinforcements are on the horizon in around a month, and navigating that period starts this week.
The Titans game is critical and the fans can be a point of difference. Don’t let differing opinions on team selections, roster management or club decisions divide and impact the support that we give to those going into football battle wearing the Blue and Gold.
Our support and I dare say the energy from the crowd, can lift the team up, especially if there was any sense of feeling deflated after the Tigers loss. Be loud and back our players.
Parra Proud
Shelley
Good work, Shelley.
The club should be writing a letter outlining Goughs poor performance, we should ask not to have him for the rest of the year
He can’t explain what a tackle is or what a ball strip is. Shouldn’t be in first grade
The refereeing at NRL level has been getting worse each season. We are seeing refs who clearly don’t have the skills to be controlling games at this level. Is is a function of vague rules that are difficult to judge in a black & white way? Or does the sport of rugby league not put enough emphasis on developing talent in refereeing? I suspect it’s a bit of both. In the old days a lot of stuff was missed and the game went on since there were no bunker/captain’s challenge and endless replays. Technology has intensified scrutiny, but the standard of refereeing has not kept pace. The NRL needs to find a solution fast.
All clubs have one-eyed supporters. That’s cool, we’re all allowed to be if that is the way we enjoy the sport.
But honestly, i find the amount of vitriol toward Gough, particularly from this website, based on Monday, so over the top, it is… unbecoming.
In fact in the post game Pod and comment section of another article a commenter was getting ripped because they relentlessly attack MON. Despite the Pod guys saying in their post match that they talked about Gough before the game, then went on relentlessly about him after the game.
Again, that’s cool, just let everyone be fans in their own way.
As it relates to our record with Gough – Dig a little deeper on that raw data and:
10 of the losses have been by double digit margin. So not exactly games decided by ref’s.
7 of those games were in 2018. We went 1 win and 6 losses with Gough in 2018… When we came stone motherless last!
In 2024 we went 3 wins and 3 losses – in a year where we won just 7 games! So in fact our win percentage with Gough was much better than without him! And the 3 we lost were to teams who finished Top 8.
In 2025 we went 1 win and 3 losses – all games were against Top 8 sides. We were not a top 8 side.
So 7 of those last 9 games lost under Gough were to teams that were better than the Eels.
So maybe some of this preconception bias about Gough runs both ways? Particularly as, to quote the author, “I said that the game better not be close near full time because I fear that a penalty will be found to decide the match”.
So with that said. Consider this, as it relates to Monday:
Was Brian Kelly stripped of the ball? Yep. Was it a ferocious strip, or could you have expected him to maybe hold the ball in that situation?
Was i furious with the non call on the Williams tackle at the end of the first half? Yes of course. But was it like we earned that field position and try scoring opportunity? No, Reality is Douehi drops the ball cold and we almost jagged some fortunate points.
Did we miss conversions galore? Yes
Did we score two tries while they were down a player in the literal spot where that player defends? Yes.
Did we get beaten for total yardage, post contact metres, PTB’s in opposition half, opposition 20m etc? Yes.
It was a gutsy performance given the injuries. To be honest, the tigers weren’t that good – certainly not with the ball. They lack organisation. But we got beat. Some calls went against us, its okay to be annoyed with those calls, but if you don’t want those calls to cost you the game, be good enough that you are ahead by double digits. To quote the author: “Winning football games comes down to winning key moments. Players and coaches have to focus on those that they can control. To do anything else is at their own peril.” Dropping the ball stone cold in Golden point, 15m out from your try line – that isn’t winning the key moments.
Good analysis BA. Ryles and Moses both know that going after the refs is a waste of time.
Notwithstanding, the ref calls we had plenty of time to win that game.
I still believe that idiotic play by Pezet on the second tackle killed us more than any ref decision.
We didn’t get anywhere near their line for 20 mins after that kick.
BA
You raise some interesting points around the Eels and Gough as ref. And doing the basic extra analysis you have is valid. However, to be certain of our thoughts the analysis would have to go deeper, asking more questions such as what were the penalty counts, the six again counts (from when they commenced), the times in the game when they happened, clustering of penalties and six agains, were the large score lines blowouts at the end resultant from the way the penalties were awarded, what is the Eels overall record against the various teams (hard to incorporate into an assessment but the Eels always “seem” to perform well agains the Broncos irrespective of ladder position- Darwin the outlier), home V away games (crowd influence), bunker interference on decisions and so on. This sort of deeper analysis would better inform our analysis of ref performance away from the emotion we feel, myself included.
None of this takes away from the fact that you are trying to be as objective as possible. It just really needs much broader and deeper analysis. I expect if the Eels wanted to make some formal sort of representation this sort of analysis would be an imperative.
That said, there is some benefit in giving a $10,000 spray the NRLs way every now and then to drive home a point. Seems to work for Robinson et al, even if it is only taking focus off the players.
As for Moses and Gough, they’ve had running battles for years, Gough threatened Mitch with the bin last year and Mitch was dragged away a few times when Gutho was skipper.
Cheers.
Another point I overlooked is a bit more intangible. A lot of ex players say a good ref has a feel for the game that allows it to flow. I’m not sure Gough has that, the Williams tackle/ not tackled incidents probably highlights that. Gough said Williams was not held, yet I have not heard one person disagree that if Williams had held the ball and fallen over the line he would have been penalised by the bunker for double movement.
That sort of thing is a lot harder to assess in the bigger analysis scheme.
Agree Namrebo, the numbers i shared, they were just a quick look over the results, not the calls that were made or missed or 50/50 in any and all of those games. But it did provide some context rather than just a straight win-loss percentage.
And look i get it, you feel hard done by with a ref once, the next time you watch them more critically and pounce on anything you consider 50/50 or worse. I’m sure we’ve all done it watching Ashley Klein referee Panthers games!
I once was at an internal company conference where they had Matt Checchin and Grant Atkins there to talk about managing people and confrontation etc. I think they quickly gauged they didn’t have a football crowd. Atkins literally talked about how he didn’t like the way Parra treated his dad. I haven’t been able to watch Atkins ref us without that in my mind.
Steve Lyons (former ref). I remember him running a line at Leichhardt one day and after Benji through a pass a mile forward, he ignored it, turned around and winked at the crowd. I never trusted him again. For context the wink was probably harmless and he would have been looking into the sun when trying to make the call… Didn’t change that i never trusted him..
So i get the emotion and perception people can draw about officials. But it doesn’t help when trying to be rationale and honest about our team and how they are really performing.
BA, your breakdown, as Namrebo pointed out, had slightly more depth than Shelley’s stats, but it remained superficial. For context about what scores and ladder positions alone tell you, see the Titans loss to the
Broncos. The Titans had a shocking forward pass call go against them that firstly prevented them from bringing the game back to a tight contest. Instead, the Broncos went the length of the field in the next set to score, the all of the momentum went their way. One call completely changed the flow of the game.
Furthermore, our instant reaction podcast is exactly what it claims to be – raw emotions and takes. That said we spent plenty of time identifying where the Eels only have themselves to blame for the loss.
Bottom line is that in any given game there are numerous moments that might determine a result. Most are in the hands of each team – they control their own destiny. The same was true of Monday, but the poor officiating created extra moments that were out of the control of the teams on the field. And with this referee, it’s far from the first time. The NRL have hardly delivered a vote of confidence since then.
Sixties,
All true and totally understand your comments. BA’s analysis, as admitted, is basic however it did make me think more deeply about my own referee criticism. That has to be a good thing.
For the last eighteen months or so any time I’ve seen Gough as our ref I’ve gone to all and sundry that we would be getting the rough end of the pineapple. However, some analysis, albeit superficial, makes one think a bit more to consider how rational I am being. Often I’m not, my wife regularly leaves the lounge during Eels games due to my carry on, even more quickly if my son is with us.
Of course, all the stats etc around a ref don’t reflect the feel of the game as I mentioned, that intangible is a lot harder to get metrics around. But if we can get analysis and assessment around that right then we can then show it might not just be emotion but something underlying to support our gut feel.
Analysis/assements was my career and I was more regularly told when I got it wrong than when I got it right. Success has many fathers while failure is an orphan.
As you said, the initial post game podcast is straight after the game. There was nothing you said in that I didn’t agree with at the time. To say I was peeved with Gough at the time would be a massive understatement. Same when reading Shelly’s post, nothing I disagreed with. But greater reflection makes me become more objective – I hope.
That said, such is my passion for the Eels, I am more likely than not to be swearing and carrying on when Gough refs our next game rather than being objective. I can’t help it.
I respect different opinions and I am glad a few days passed before my article went up so I could try and be calm but also present my concern with Parra games controlled by Mr Gough
I do understand and accept that win loss records are impacted by opposition quality. I was simply stating the record re results.
My opinion is that Mr Gough as a referee tends to have teams that do much better with him and others like Parra significantly worse.
I was very mindful not to make it personal. Stats are available for fans and trends are there.
For example no one would argue Newcastle in the last 10 years have been a strong team, quite the opposite. However, in those ten years they have an overall win percentage of 37.60% yet under Mr Gough they have a 60% winning record ( winning 15/25 games). The knights are +22% under Gough.
To put it into perspective referee Klein’s biggest difference for any team is +10. Most top referees are around the 9-10 at the most winning %
Stats can be found here.
https://afltables.com/rl/misc/Peter_Gough.html
I feel that Mr Goughs style significantly impacts either positively or negatively certain teams and therefore has a significant influence on the outcomes of games and that cannot be okay. I strongly think after ten years this should have been addressed with him.
I do agree that our team made plenty of mistakes and my frustration at Pezet’s kick matched my frustration with Mr Gough. The difference is my frustration with Mr Gough has grown over years and I think the highly paid referees coaches should have addressed the concern a long time ago.
Thank you for taking time to respond. It is a highly topical issue and I knew and appreciate that opinions will differ.
I get what you are saying however, it is a common theme these days referees decide the winner of the game and Gough proved that. Gough reminds me of Bill Harrigan – arrogant and clearly doesn’t like to be challenged. He made a number of mistakes that had a negative impact against the Eels. We have every right to express our frustration.
A reasonable balanced analysis.
I like the Tigers and I like Benji.
They are not the enemy but the quality of refereeing is
Good read Shelley. I’ve checked the replay and it was our marker who actually applied the pressure in Madden missing the field goal. It would be an interesting analysis taking into account many factors but I d think Madden’s eyeline or vision while focussing on the ball and cross bar was impacted by our marker but not Walker (unless he was screaming out colorful distractions). The markers running line was the same as Maddens aim, Walker approached from wider and was 2/3 mtrs later than the marker. Also, another interesting factor was when was the last time we saw a golden point charge down penalty to win a game. I did read someone indicating that it hasn’t happened in the past 20 years. Prob needs a fact check, but still interesting, I can’t recall any.
Nice read, and you kept bias out of this.
Another instance of Gough and the Eels was 2024 in Newcastle. Clint Gutherson comes across in cover and gets there a second too late to prevent a try. He then complains to Peter Gough about Gough obstructing him.
Replays show Gough stepping forward into Guthos line. But the appeals fell on deaf ears, as always
I will make no comment on the performance of referee Gough, that issue has been amply covered by others.
However I will concentrate on the rule changes that are having a dramatic effect on the game. I will declare up front I am not a fan of the 6 again rule. It is too arbitrary and gives referees enormous power to influence the momentum and hence the result of a game. The flip side of that is that it exposes the referees to the likelihood of increased criticism.
From a players perspective many are on record as saying they do not know the reason for the infringement. If the players don’t know then what hope do the fans have. Referee interpretations will vary from week to week adding to the confusion. This endless pursuit to speed the game up has, as coaches have said, brought fatigue into the game. That has consequences particularly around injury as defensive techniques are compromised.
Speed does not necessarily guarantee quality rugby league. Blown out scorelines which are increasingly becoming the norm are not good for anyone. Some of the greatest and most exciting games have had less than 20 points scored in total.
Thanks Shelly for the article, I enjoyed it.
I don’t always like the refs calls, but we scored 4 tries to 3 and kicked 1 out of 4 conversions, whereas Tigers kick all 3 conversions.
Kick one more goal and what you are talking about is redundant.
We need Mitch either fit for kicking or someone else who is a great kicker.
I don’t have stats but look at all the games where missed conversions are the reason for the loss, I bet there a lot.
I know it doesn’t apply to our tries in this game but while I’m on about the importance of conversions, whatever happened to the winger running the ball around to be closer to the sticks, geez that really annoys me no matter what team I’m watching,
Mark, players not improving the position when scoring is a sore point for me too. You don’t want them to put the try at risk, but far too often the flash finish seems to take priority
And
I get the feeling Parra isn’t flavour of the month with the NRL, first the blowtorch comment with Lomax, Parra got Litigious , now we got knocked back from salary dispensation
Is the NRL dirty on Parra from pulling out of the Darwin round?
Just on Mitch’s kicking, most goal kickers take their time and the clock normally stops when they are kicking a penalty, Mitch doesn’t take as long and I’m thinking he’s not giving the kick the respect it deserves
You know what the biggest problem with the Eels is ?…. We procrastinate, we sit on our hands, we do nothing to address the situation.
I see that Scott Drinkwater is odds on to go to the Saints now.
kudos to St George.
They recognise that Gutho is busted and have TAKEN ACTIVE STEPS TO ADDRESS IT !
Timako, Xerri, Tago, Sloan etc etc etc are all sitting there waiting for us to address our roster problems but we just sit there and wait.
What are we doing ? What are we waiting for ?
Boys you have the ear of the club perhaps you may be able to ask these questions?
Instead we sit there and dream of Ritchie Penisini or Sam Loisou being the great hopes that they will never be !!
If ever we need Ricky Stuart and his blackboard it’s now.
The roster management of this club is bloody appalling and getting worse.
It’s so slow and underwhelming. I don’t like Gus but he is proactive, ruthless and efficient. He sees problems and seeks solutions. If the solutions don’t work, he ships them off and gets the next player in. We could learn a thing or two about being more ruthless and not overstating our juniors – the ones you mention are not first grade depth and neither are others in our top 30/development list. We still let matto occupy a top 30 spot instead of paying him out. It’s all amateur stuff
It is. How some of those blokes can get a top 30 contract just shows what a rock show they have there.
You are right. It’s time we understand that it’s a bloody business not a charity affair.
Take Ritchie Penisini for example.. just how long are we going to wait for this bloke?
I know he’s been injured but the bloke is dead set made of glass.
Surely surely this is the last year for him ?
If he doesn’t debut and make a reasonable contribution this year surely we have to cut him lose ??
If he goes and makes a fist of it with someone else well that’s business.
I would love someone like Gus running our club. Love him or hate him at least he has a presence and just wouldn’t put up with the deadwood that we seem so fond of !