IF you thought Joe Hockey’s budget unveiled overnight was tough, wait until you see the chainsaw massacre Steve Mortimer’s got in mind.

A Canterbury legend and crusader for the health and integrity of rugby league as a sport, Mortimer is sick and tired of the modern reforms that have made the game he loves virtually unrecognisable.

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Something needs to change and at the top of Turvey’s list of cuts is referees.

Unlike Hockey’s unpopular slashing of health and education programs, Mortimer’s plan to halve the men in pink might just be a political masterstroke.

“I’ve got a number of issues with the game but I’m looking at things that could improve the whole game, not trying to be critical,” was Mortimer’s opening line to an interview with Fox Sports News this week — a wily statement to soften the officials up before winding up for a right hook to the face of Tony Archer and his team.

“When Samoa played Fiji and Australia played New Zealand there was one referee. There were less penalties and I just think we don’t need two referees.

“We’ve got one up in the video box who is a former referee and with the video referee involved as well as the referee on the field, you don’t need two referees to make the proper decisions.

“When you get two, they’ve both got a thought and I’ve got no doubt that when you look at the stats there’s more penalties blown when there’s two referees.

“I think one is enough. You’ve got two linesmen and a video referee. I just think two is too extravagant and it complicates things.

“The game is a simple game and that’s why it rates so highly, because it’s a simple game.

“When you’ve got two officials out there thinking ‘we should do this, or we should do that’, and you’ve got more penalties in the game, it’s not a good look for rugby league supporters.”

It’s not the first time reverting to a one referee system has been mooted. Mortimer has some powerful allies.

Cameron Smith, the captain of Australia and the most influential player in the NRL plays under both systems — two referees in club football and one referee when he pulls on a Kangaroos jersey.

He’s had enough experience adapting to both to have a sound opinion and he’s firmly in Mortimer’s corner.

This was Smith’s view when asked how officiating could be improved following Saturday night’s thriller between Melbourne and Manly.

“As a player that is the biggest thing for us — the inconsistencies between the two referees,” Smith said.

“We played a Test match last Friday night with one referee in Shayne Hayne and after that match I don’t think anyone had any issues because there was just one guy.

“I don’t know whether the NRL needs to look at that and go back to one referee. I don’t think either team had an issue with the refereeing in that Test match because [the ref] knows how he wants to referee the game and he views it the same for both teams.

“I found that Test match really enjoyable going back to that one referee, which is an international rule, the game flowed so much better.”

That’s an emphatic tick for Mortimer’s headline reform.

His follow up might be a little trickier to sell to the people but Turvey’s not one to shy away from a good honest debate.

Over the past 20 years scrums have evolved from a genuine contest for the ball between 12 bareknuckled bruisers — six from each side — to a passing curiosity.

Nowadays they serve no purpose other than to create a platform for a set play. They’re a pointless variation on a tap restart.

But rather than scrapping them, Mortimer wants to step back in time and make them a contest again. They would become a trap for penalties — a tax to be paid by teams that couldn’t execute them properly.

“Scrums right now are an insult to the integrity and the intellect of rugby league supporters,” Mortimer said.

“You need to have the scrum competitive. Like the bounce to start an AFL game, the scrum in rugby league and rugby union is part of the DNA of that game.

“We need to have competitive scrums and when there’s a penalty you have a differential penalty, which means you can’t kick for goal.

“Therefore you add excitement to the game where the attacking side is going, ‘gee, I hope we can score on the next set of six’, and the defensive side is saying ‘gee, I hope we can hold out here’.

“It adds to the value of excitement to the game as opposed to seeing guys packing in or standing up in scrums, which really is an insult to the supporter. Those people you can see on the sideline, it absolutely doesn’t treat them with respect.”

A budget that treats the people with respect? Maybe Mortimer’s not cut out to be a politician after all.