Last weekend was derby weekend in NSW and as Harps likes to say “arousal levels were high”.  All over the state, and indeed the country, football supporters  eagerly anticipated a day of fierce rivalry and thrilling competition.

But while both matches delivered in terms of entertainment, there was a stark difference in terms of officiating.  At Parramatta Stadium, Strebre Delovski guided the first ever Sydney derby with a largely invisible hand, allowing the focus to remain on the two superstars and the great occasion itself.

Up at Hunter Stadium the players and spectators of the F3 Derby weren’t so lucky.  Instead of enjoying the “arousal” brought on by our fiercest rivals, or even enjoying the spectacle of watching the great Emile Heskey, we were all forced to watch “Ref Cam”.  Yes !  Forget “Hero Cam”; “Ref Cam” is what happens when we’re all made to see the match from the ref’s point of view.  Regardless of the great moments of football that were displayed by both teams on the day, “Ref Cam” ensured that Ben Williams was the star of the show.

Some may argue that there’s nothing like a penalty in the third minute to get a derby really fired up.  I agree – but that was nothing like a penalty.  Not even Heskey himself would claim that he was rumbled to the ground by a man thirty kilos lighter.  But thanks to “Ref Cam” the impossible was shown to be possible ! 

Even before the penalty, “Ref Cam” revealed another miracle.  Apparently, it’s less dangerous to chop down another player in a late tackle if you do it in the first thirty seconds of the game !  Who would have thought it ?  Those opening seconds, especially in derbies, will be henceforth known as “red card free time”.  If only Josh Rose had been aware of this ruling (and watch those offsides in your own half too, Josh). 

Yes, like Hutcho, I’ve been drawn into a sarcastic response to the referee’s less than stellar performance on Saturday night, but how else can we respond ?  Season after season in the A-League we see matches ruined by poor decisions and lack of consistency.  Year after year the broken record response is “refs have the hardest job in the world and hey, it all balances out over the season.”

This may well be true, but I can't help wondering what the outraged reaction might have been had the Sydney Derby been affected by such decisions. And what about the wider implications?  Such as :

Player Safety : We’re always told this is paramount to refs, but how was Ruben Zadkovich’s tackle not a threat to safety ?  According to one commentator he would have been given his marching orders had he committed the foul “half an hour later”.  Instead, he was left on the pitch to bring down Sterjovski later on, an offense for which he received no penalty.  Perhaps looking through “Ref Cam” we could see the ref  too “scared” to give him a second yellow and send him off in what had by now become a volatile match (partly due to his own decisions). Which leads me to….

Football “Riots” :  in the shiny new world of “Superstars A-League” we’re all agreed this is not a good look.  Indeed, the FFA seem almost fanatically concerned about the possibility of “hooliganism”.  Perhaps they should consider how much aggro (on and off the pitch) is sparked by poor ref decisions.  There’s nothing quite like a sense of “injustice” to light the fuse.  Which leads me to ….

Superstar Marquees : have lit up the A-League this season as never before – and we’re only three rounds in. They’re creating headlines and shining a spotlight on our game in ways we never dreamed possible.  New fans are being attracted to the game and the level of media attention both local and international is unprecedented.  Surely it follows that our refereeing standards will be under greater scrutiny than ever before and they must meet the expectations of all these new “stakeholders”.

So I wanted to tell you all about the great time I had up at Hunter Stadium on Saturday.  About the pleasure of watching sparkling youngsters like Rogic, Virgili, Sainsbury and Goodwin.  About the enjoyment of seeing a fired-up Hutcho in his first F3 Derby as captain.  About the top quality entertainment provided by the Yellow Army who sang for 90 plus minutes and looked hilarious in tacky 1970’s sportswear (although the guy in the North Sydney Bears strip surely jinxed us).

Instead, all I can think about is spending nearly four hours driving up and down the F3 to see a game that was effectively ruined in the first 3 minutes.  Not a good incentive to make even the most dedicated fan want to do it all again next time.

The FFA has just announced another $500,000 to $1,000,000 to subsidise top quality marquees.  Fantastic news, but perhaps it might consider spending a fraction of that amount on ensuring our referee standards are of the highest quality.  Regardless of the superstars on the pitch, not many fans will ever want to watch a match via “Ref Cam”.