Idiot Wrangling - The State of Origin Edition

My thoughts on the important need for well trained Idiot Wranglers who care to the needs of idiots and keep them under control have already been well established. With that in mind, I am consider offering my services to the NRL / ARL.

While last night's State of Origin match was one of the more entertaining matches I have seen lately, and as a Queenslander I am proud of my team who were able to hold off the Blues onslaught for so long despite having, at one stage, absolutely no reserves to play (special mention - Steve Price - EIGHTY MINUTES in the front row. Unbelievable effort), I have to say, the referring team was in dire need of some good Idiot Wranglers.

A couple of standout moments...

Jonathon Thurston's 40/20 kick. The kick finds touch a little over the 20m line (or so it appeared on my TV). Touchie, being no where near it, runs down.... Throws flag up just past the 30m line... and then keeps moving down... 27m... 25m... 22m... Finally, he get's to the 20m line. Now a 40/20 at this point would be a HUGE relief to the beleaguered QLD side, but also, obviously not really beneficial to the Blues... So what's the Touchie do? Stands with one leg on either side of the 20m line, looks at the ref and says "You call it". The stupidity of it. He had NO idea where the ball was when it went over the line, so instead, decides to take a 50/50 guess and stand on both signs of the line. What happened to Benefit of the Doubt!

Not to be out done, the other Touchie had a blinding moment of stupidity on his sideline as well. Danny Buderus kicks for touch... And thanks to a lucky bounce (for the Maroons), the ball doesn't find touch, is scooped up Hodges (I think) who begins powering back... When the Touchie, almost as an afterthought, throws up his flag... The ball DID NOT GO OUT.

Seriously, being a touch judge is a job even an idiot can do. It's not rocket science. One side of the white line is IN. The other side of the line is OUT.

How hard can this be to understand?