Daniel Anderson ... rebuilding confidence in the refereeing ranks. Source:News Limited
Rugby league has had a victory before a ball has been kicked in earnest thanks to the appointment of Daniel Anderson as the referee's high performance manager.
While it is still the earliest of days, I'm confident the new interpretations that have been introduced and viewed in our trial matches will translate nicely into the season proper when it kicks off next week.
There was no doubt change was needed after the 2012 season finished with a crisis of confidence across the board.
Our whistleblowers were loathe to make decisions, keener to go "upstairs" and put the responsibility on the man sitting in the video ref hot seat. This resulted in video ref technology being relied upon as a crutch more than a safety net and led to it being called into use way too often.
A combination of this and some hard to fathom rule interpretations led both players and fans into a state of confusion.
The most obvious improvement over the last two weeks has been referees backing their judgment and making calls immediately which has helped them establish control as well as aid the flow of the game.
Catch the first episode of Sterlo on Thursday, March 7 on Fox Sports 1HD at 6.30pm (EDT)
There have also been alterations to the way some of the most important aspects of the game are to be adjudicated.
The scoring of tries tops the list with the dropping of "benefit of the doubt" a no-brainer. Now if it looks like a try has been scored, more often than not that will be the case.
However some of the more unacceptable interpretations have thankfully been removed.
No longer can a player drop the ball and negate the obvious knock-on by getting his hand back on it as it simultaneously touches the ground.
For over a 100 years that had always been a lost ball and should never have been anything but. Areas such as downward pressure and "separation" have also been intelligently dealt with.
The controversial obstruction rule was an obvious area of concern and while Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens has already been quoted as saying there will continue to be problems in its adjudication, I believe the basis of how it will be dealt with will stand up.
Basically you can't run behind your own man when in possession, the responsibility is on the decoy runner not to make contact and if the defensive line is unduly disadvantaged in the way the play unfolds it will receive a penalty.
What I particularly like is that the inequality between attack and defence that has widened over recent seasons has a chance of becoming more equitable.
The game was becoming way too biased towards favouring the side in possession, with benefit of the doubt when scoring a try a further extension of that.
The problem for the defensive team is that the little competitions that used to exist within a game are constantly being eliminated. Scrums were once a contest where you could challenge for the ball. So too the play-the-ball where the marker could rake for possession.
Players like Mario Fenech and Ben Elias became past masters at stealing the ball for their team.
Stripping the ball in the tackle was also acceptable before we overreacted to the genius of Allan Langer at being a thief in the night and made the ball carrier a protected species.
I'm not naive enough to think that the coming season will be devoid of problems and that there will not continue to be a degree of controversy and criticism when it comes to the refereeing ranks.
It is somewhat the nature of the beast with rugby league being a game of greys more than black and white.
However the introduction of the affable Anderson is a positive step towards referees establishing credibility on the back of his understanding of the essence of the game.
Anderson has always been a student of rugby league and the fact he is a highly successful former coach shouldn't hurt.
After all for the majority of the past 10 years he has been trying to bend and work to his advantage the very rules he now governs.
The NRL season is only a week away - and the party is starting early on Fox Sports.
Before the NRL's season opening blockbuster between South Sydney and Sydney Roosters, tune into Fox Sports for the debut of Peter Sterling's show, Sterlo.
Sterling will be joined by an all-star cast including Tigers recruit Braith Anasta and new referees' boss Daniel Anderson along with panel members Matthew Johns, Mark Gasnier and Lara Pitt.
Led by Sterling, one of league's most authoritative voices, the Sterlo panel will showcase rugby league's best analysts using cutting edge and in-depth analysis to preview every game of the 2013 NRL season.
