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#Post#: 83179--------------------------------------------------
RL - Wakefield Trinity v Doncaster
By: Hendo Date: September 25, 2024, 12:06 pm
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I see that the above fixture this weekend brings down the
curtain on Ben Thaler’s refereeing career which has lasted over
2 decades. In my humble opinion he has been an outstanding but
underrated referee, firm but fair, with an excellent rapport
with the players and someone who only relied on video help when
absolutely necessary.
We talk about natural and manufactured referees a lot on RTR.
Thaler was a natural referee, in the mould of Joe Worrall,
Michael Oliver and others, whereas the modern referees - Liam
Moore, Chris Kendall etc - seem very manufactured in style.
Unfortunately Thaler’s early years clashed with the likes of
Ganson, Silverwood and the excellent Phil Bentham so he was in
their shadow for some time. It’s disgraceful that he was only
ever appointed to 1 Wembley Final and 1 Grand Final, both in
2015, especially when you think that the likes of Moore and
Kendall seem to have monopolised all the Finals over the last
few years. I still feel his career took an undeserved backwards
step when Ganson suspended him for unfounded allegations a few
years back. I got the feeling he and Ganson didn’t see eye to
eye after that
It would have been a fitting tribute and thankyou for him to
have got one of this years Finals but his name isn’t Moore or
Kendall so that wouldn’t do.
Good to see however that Thaler has secured a full time job with
the RL in recruiting new and upcoming referees, which I am sure
he will good at.
Some lovely tributes on various RL websites if anyone wants to
take a look.
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