Conger - still shark.
Were you one of the three salty NRFL referees sitting near the benches moaning about every decision?
Nope, but Conger's terrible.
Never understood the Conger hate, is it because he is a referee or do people think he is worst than other NZ referees? Is it just because you see him refereeing more often? Or is it Tall Poppy because he actually is quite successful as a ref.
People that are in the know, including FIFA referee selection panels must see something different as he keeps getting games at tournaments. I mean he just refereed the Superclásico de las Américas between Brazil and Argentina recently too.
FIFA refereeing selection is based on giving opportunity and exposure to all confederations. So just like Solomon Islands aren't a superpower at U20 level because they played at the U20 World Cup, neither is Conger a quality international referee. He may well be the top rated referee in the confederation, but as I said, that's the equivalent of winning the tallest dwarf competition. Besides Conger is nowhere near good enough as O'Leary or Hester, and they were both well below average as international referees.
Sure I get that and maybe saying he is the best is subjective but he still has to do enough to get selected and he is the one getting selected from NZ admittedly small selection pool to do those games.
Anyway, this isn't a refereeing thread. Back to criticising Auckland City instead.