Workington Town vice chairman Mark Fryer has welcomed the news that the RFL is launching a new, independent match officials standards panel.

The panel will be completely independent and will look and support the development of officiating in the professional game.

With Workington Town being on the harsh end of certain refereeing decisions this season, Fryer admits this is a positive step by the RFL.

He said: “We would welcome this move, there is no doubt about that.

“When you look at the standard of referees, you feel that sometimes the Championship is being used as a training ground.

“As soon as any of them reach a pretty decent standard they are moved up to work the lines at Super League level and we get another intake coming through.

“They look to be getting younger and younger which is good that the game can still attract referees but they need to be monitored.”

Town were unhappy when crucial refereeing decisions in the final minutes of the game against Bradford saw the Bulls win 29-22 despite Workington putting in a superb performance against the full-timers

And Fryer added that it was not only Workington that had cause for concern this season over the standards of refereeing.

He added: “There is concern throughout all the clubs in the Championship about the refereeing standards because far too many games are being determined by refereeing decisions.

“This is a positive step forward although it would be good if they put someone affected by the decisions on the panel as well.”

The panel members include Whitehaven-born former referee Stuart Cummings, ex-St Helens star Chris Joynt, mind coach Jeff Pettitt, general manager of Badminton Wales Sue Maughan and chair Janie Frampton, the former chief executive of Sports Officials UK.

The panel will be an independent audit system to assess the quality of refereeing and will report back to the RFL board and stakeholders as to whether the standard is improving, staying level or declining.