Excuse Me Ladies and Gentlemen, Can Anyone Here Referee A Rugby League Game?

And if anyone is capable of being a touch judge, we'd be happy to hear from you. All applicants with two working eyes will be considered. That was the general concensus of a highly vocal Broncos crowd at ANZ Stadium this afternoon, after witnessing rookie referee Shane Hayne display why the refereeing standard is so low. There is no pressure from the young up and comers.

In front of a crowd kept well down after overnight storms caused disastrous damage across the south-east of the state, Brisbane scored their third win of the season, but it was anything but convincing. It was also not helped by a referee refusing to police the 10 metres or slowing down tactics in the play the ball.

It was ironic then that Wests Tigers got the first points on the board when Ben Ikin was penalised for attempting to slow down a play the ball after the Tigers dominated early possession. Craig Field landed the shot at goal.

Much of the talk before the match centred around Wayne Bennett's decision to include Shaun Berrigan at halfback ahead of star signing Scott Prince. It paid almost immediate dividends when the talented young utility sprinted from the scrum base to score untouched under the posts. The Tigers' defence was bamboozled and had absolutely no idea what Berrigan was doing. Michael De Vere converted for a 6-2 lead.

From there the game slowed down to an armwrestle, but the Broncos were looking the better side in attack, with more options. It took until the 31st minute to get the next try on the board. On the last, the Broncos spread the ball wide. De Vere stepped inside and offloaded to Carl Webb in traffic, the big forward crashing over for his first first grade try.

Right on half time, Darren Lockyer made a tremendous break, finding Gorden Tallis in support who crashed over beside the posts, showing great strength to get the ball down under the attention of three defenders. The video referee awarded the try. De Vere converted and at half time, the game was all but won at 18-2.

Referee Hayne received a cold reception at the break, with even the normally placid Western Stand crowd giving him a stir. Both sides were guilty of standing offside and holding down, but particularly the Tigers, who struggled to cope with the speed of the Broncos' play. They kept doing it because they weren't being penalised.

The second half was a carbon copy, only the Tigers brought malice into their play. Three players were reported for high shots, Tyran Smith, Corey Pearson and Trent Runciman. John Hopoate was lucky to escape censure after knocking Lockyer out with an elbow as he flopped on the dynamic fullback. Another Tiger came in with a forearm for good measure. The attack left Lockyer dazed. Hopoate's karma came back to haunt him when he suffered what appeared a serious knee or ankle injury. He received no sympathy from the Broncos' crowd.

Neither side could split the line, and both made far too many errors. Brisbane were making ground at will and it looked a formality they would bolt away with a big win. But the Tigers' defence was spirited and Brisbane's execution poor. It only got poorer when Prince came on the field.

Wests finally got something to cheer about when former Dragon Lee Murphy crashed over in the corner. The video referee, Eddie Ward, checked the play half a dozen times but decided there was enough downward pressure, despite the appearance Murphy dropped it.

Field's conversion was laughable but the Tigers were within 12. That changed when Michael De Vere landed a penalty goal from in front, after yet another high tackle. The Broncos made numerous breaks, but were foiled by the Tigers. On one occasion, the Tigers blatantly knocked on in cleaning up, but both referee and touch judge let play go on, eventually resulting in Murphy's try.

Brisbane finally got some quality possession with less than four minutes on the clock. After being held out for some time, Sailor crashed over in the final minute with a triumphant bounce of the ball. De Vere missed the conversion but the Broncos sealed victory 24-6 to move to the top of the ladder for all of two hours.

Hayne's full time reception was as cold as at half time. The young referee will be lucky to escape the axe for next week and copped a lot of criticism for not sending off at least one of the Tigers' players after a string of incidents of foul play.

The Broncos had few outstanding performers, but it was a solid team effort. Shaun Berrigan was outstanding and was a highlight of an otherwise dull match. In the backline, Ikin, Lockyer and Lote Tuqiri were solid. Up front, the platform was again laid by Petero Civoniceva, Shane Webcke and Brad Meyers, but joining them ably was Carl Webb. Webb was brilliant in his first top grade performance for the club and will make it tough for Bennett to leave him out of next week's glamour clash with Newcastle. Tallis, Dane Carlaw and Ashley Harrison were solid up front without being brilliant, adding credit to the performance.

The Tigers were below their best across the park. John Carlaw had a horror day, failing to make any impact on the wing against Tuqiri. Lee Murphy was the pick of the backline, proving difficult to bring down. Kevin McGuinness and Hopoate also performed well. Craig Field and John Simon's impact was limited in the halves. In the forwards, John Skandalis and Jason Lowrie lay a solid platform in the front row, supported by Pearson and Shane Walker. The backrow of Tyran Smith, Luke O'Donnell and Darren Senter struggled. O'Donnell in particular failed to live up to his growing reputation.

The performance will hardly have Newcastle losing sleep over next Friday's clash with the Broncos, while the Tigers will fancy their chances against the out of form Melbourne Storm. Brisbane have a lot of work to do between now and next week, with the Knights' speed in attack far superior to Brisbane's lack of cohesion as shown in the early rounds this season.