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Much has been said about referee Paul Mark’s decision(s) in the game between the Sharks and the Waratahs. Even John Plumtree and John Smit have broken their silence and added their voices to the chorus against Marks. But the Super 14 is an unforgiving competition and if the Sharks dwell too much on the previous match, they will regress against the Brumbies next weekend.
The Sharks team management and players need to move on from those incidents and regroup as a squad before taking their collective frustration out on the Brumbies. The matter should be left in the hands of the Sharks lawyers and most certainly not ignored but rather channeled into an improved performance.
Because, in all honesty, if the Sharks play like they did against the ‘Tahs pretty much any of the Super 14 teams on a half-decent day would beat them. The Waratahs were terrible and did deserve to lose that match but the Sharks did not exactly look like world beaters themselves.
There is room for improvement but their is hope also, especially considering the phase play and determination shown in the second half. That tempo needs to be maintained and even improved upon for the Sharks to stand any chance of victory against the Brumbies as the team seek to pick up the pieces of an up to so far disastrous campaign.
Once again, the senior players and management need to take the initiative here and make sure the rest of the squad are focused on the task at hand and not the blunders of a home town ref. The two Johns (Smit and Plumtree) have especially key roles this week (especially in the absence of a mental coach/psychiatrist) in this way.
So, I can see this next week going one of two ways, if the team are focused on what they can’t control, namely the ref and other external factors, they will in all probability self-destruct against the Brumbies and lose heavily. But if they focus on what they can control, namely their own play, they stand a good chance of toppling a Brumbies team which did not look like the team they were hyped up to be this past weekend.
How the team moves forward from the incidents this past weekend is absolutely crucial to the rest of their tour and probably the rest of their season as well.
The Sharks have been caught in similar situations to this before, i may even venture to guess a possible reason for the loss to the cheetahs was the guys possibly feeling sorry for themselves and confidence down as a result of the manner of the defeat against the chiefs in the opening game.
and I think the obstruction call was imho a MUCH worse call than the penalty try which was not given
you are spot on here, war1… guys need to concentrate on the factors they can control. While much better, last weeks’ performance still wasn’t good enough to win
@robdylan (Comment 3) : it was better than the ‘tahs one though
they were shocking!
@war1 (Comment 4) : remember this you only as good as your opposition allows you too be And the Tahs have learnt over the years how to cheat effectivly
If we are to beat the Brumbies then we need to stop the new Owen Finigan-Rocky Elsom he is the bloke that allows George smith to play and give the brumbies go forward ball Stop Elsom and we will win
@Fattmann (Comment 5) : if only it was as simple as that. We need to build on last week, keep the ball for all those phases again, we looked dangerous when we attacked. As the headline says, we need to move on from the controversial loss and we need to move forward by continuing to improve on our play, the guys seemed to want to play which was already a good sign
@Fattmann (Comment 5) :@war1 (Comment 6) : and yes, i do agree that elsom could be important but we need to do these other things as well
@Fattmann (Comment 5) : need to start Wolla and Vic together.
@war1 (Comment 1) : You mean after getting shafted by the ref.
@robdylan (Comment 3) : Which team was the better team on the day….the Sharks or the ‘Tahs?
@war1 (Comment 7) : Well said War1… good article. Sharks looked a better side as the Tahs tired in the second half i think all sides are vulable immediately returning from South Africa…Brumbies were the same along with the Chiefs. Brumbies will be a lot better this week. So will the Tahs.
Need to let worrying about the referee go or the competition will be over before you know about it….lets face it ref calls all look a bit random don’t they !
Hopefully this hole debacle will have the opposite effect on the Sharks and give them an even greater hunger to trash the Brumbles….
We’re either gonna trash the Brumbles, or be as lethargic as we were against the Cheetahs and Crusaders.
Still can’t blame the Sharks for feeling robbed (not dylan
).
Anyways, GO SHARKSSSSS!!!!
so pleased to see we have another untested rookie ref this weekend…
@robdylan (Comment 14) : Jeepers, NO Rob, who is it?
@Puma (Comment 15) : Garrat Williamson
@robdylan (Comment 16) : Where the heck is he from?
Never even heard of him.
We not lucky with the refs this year Rob, at is for sure.
If we had Kapan or Mark Lawrence think we could have a better chance beating the Brumbies. Not cause they are saffas but they are the two best refs in the tourney.
@Puma (Comment 17) : he’s a Kiwi. I have no further info than that.
But yeah, we’ve drawn the short stick this year and no mistake
@robdylan (Comment 18) : Rob, Just checked it out. He is a kiwi and a on the Reserve Panel.. Crikey mate we are unlucky. Why not from the Merit Refs? We in trouble I feel. Suppose once we back at home all the saffa refs will head off to Oz and kiwi land to ref too……hahaha. Damn feel we really not lucky this year. Only had Kaplan and for only the first half. The other saffa ref was not up to it. Think he was from the Reserve Panel.
Cheers Rob, Out of here now. Feel mad now that we have another novice ref this weekend.
I’ve got to be honest guys, but even though I like Lawrence and believe he’s an excellent ref, I can’t help but notice that he’s a little bit biased towards the SA teams…..let me put it this way, I can’t wait to have him ref a game, where we face one of the overseas teams.
I just saw a replay of that driving mall from the Stormers, and there were a few times where I was certain he should have blown for obstruction.
I might be wrong, but I do get the feeling that he is firstly a South African, and then only a ref.
Anyone in Durbs got a hold of the Mercury? On Sky News’s “What’s in the papers” this morning they had the Mercury sports page with a pic of Plum and “Plumtree tears into Sharks”.
I tried to read it on IOL, but it’s premium content. Can someone please check it out and let us know exactly what he said?
Paul Marks is assistant ref in the Sharks game this weekend….I hope our boys can ignore him.
Brumbies vs Sharks in Canberra
Referee: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Paul Marks (Australia), Simon Moore (Australia)
Television match official: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Steve Walsh will be referee for the Stormers vs Hurricanes match.
The reality is that the Sharks team that took the field on Saturday, should have put 20 past a shockingly shoddy Tahs outfit, 2 or 3 referee calls included.
The Sharks are still not firing, and were in fact poor on the day (I watched the game again yesterday).
Even a poor Sharks was unlucky to lose, but they should never be so poor in the first place.
This is a class team and they should back themselves.
@Morné (Comment 26) : Morne, We have class players, but we not playing like a class team
Not sure why. The last 25min or so on Saturday we looked really good. Need to do that for a whole game. Keep the descipline too.
@Puma (Comment 27) :
They are not backing themselves.
They are desperate.
They are afraid to lose.
They have no belief anymore.
Get Tim Goodenough in that setup asap.
Oh wait…
Plum does not believe in that mental conditioning mumbo-jumbo…
@Just a Fan (Comment 24) : So which one of those Aussie Refs were the TMO on Sat? He was just as bad as Paul Marks. This week we get a Reserve Panel ref
Thought refs that would ref the games would all be from the Merit Panel. That is what I read, unless a injury or the Merit Refs are not pulling their weight reffing the games, then only will they use the Reserve Panel Refs. So why do we have a Reserve Panel Ref this weekend?
@Puma (Comment 31) : that was matt goddard, apparently he is our TMO again this weekend
@Morné (Comment 28) : Morne, All that is very true, but if we had won that first game against the Chiefs think it might have been a lot different. Winning does bring confidence, confidence makes a team believe in themselves. Now we playing on the back foot and have to win, that brings pressure, pressure brings mistakes. So really then you can not go out there and play a whole game running it from everywhere. Think the team are playing it careful and are coming unstuck cause of that.
Just a quick question:
While the TMO is having a look at the replay, can he hear what the commentators are saying??
If he can then I think there could be a chance that he is influenced by their comments.
For example, the try awarded against the Sharks: Both Aussie commentators concluded that it WAS a try even though the evidence was not conclusive.
Could it be that their comments they influenced the TMO??
@war1 (Comment 32) : Thought he was
He should be fired not sitting upstairs again. 
Not good enough really. He got it ssoooooooooooooooo wrong with that try he gave the Tahs at halftime. No try it was not even grounded, never even went over the try line. No excuse for him he had access to replay that over and over and over. I replayed it straight away and said that was not a try. Was speechless when he said it was a try.
@Puma (Comment 35) : it was without doubt a poor decision
@wpw (Comment 34) : NO just needs eyes really. Just had to see if it was grounded. He could see far better than the ref will all the replays
will – with
@wpw (Comment 34) : Not sure if the TMO can hear the commentators. If he can and is influenced by them he has to be fired. Can never listen to a commentator.
@war1 (Comment 36) : For sure.
@wpw (Comment 34) : TMO can not hear the commentators. A ref was asked this question in an interview I heard a while ago and he said they only get the video, but no audio feed.