Referees coach Tony Archer doesn't understand obstruction, players need only take a dive to stop a try and it's "a sad day for footy and its fans". That's the view of former first grade player and referee Luke Phillips, expressed on Facebook over the weekend and shared on social media by others in the officiating fraternity. "The bunker has now made obstruction black and white," Phillips wrote. "No point having ex footballers in their [sic] now. The refs have a refs boss who has no idea on obstruction. And can only understand black and white. Players only need to take a dive now to get a penalty. Sad day for footy and its fans. Pattern [sic - Luke] and [Ben] Galea are now just button pushers." Among the commenters was former top ref Paul McBlane, who wrote – in part – "Had enough of this crap".

Rah-rah ruckus

The oldest enmity in rugby league – the one with rugby union – has flared again. Most countries do not recognise them as separate sports, meaning league is denied funding, insurance and in some cases protection from intimidation and even – hello Sol Mokdad – jail. That was supposed to change with league, arm wrestling and poker due to be formally admitted to Sports Accord in Lucerne over the past few days. Alas, that was delayed and at the same time, reported insidethegame.biz. "A letter was subsequently sent to SportAccord by World Rugby calling for the RLIF not to be added". It appears the Rugby League International Federation does not know exactly what was in this letter – and has asked the former IRB to formally guarantee them it wasn't a hatchet job. "RLIF has received a written assurance from World Rugby that the concern which World Rugby has raised is with SportAccord and not with the RLIF application and therefore there is no reason for the RLIF application not to be approved at the November meeting," said League's CEO David Collier.

Graham's rugby warning