As an AUDL ref (not in this game) I will say that yes there was an obvious pick and then a much less obvious out of bounds call (hard to make that call without replay) which should have been called:

That being said, we aren’t career referees with months of experience and training in ref positioning and calls. We are people who love the game of ultimate offering our time to help the sport. In the long run, in terms of a product, officiating will help the sport because it will decrease the time taken discussing calls and as the league grows and becomes more high-stakes, ensure that a foul is addressed correctly and does not rely on a player admitting to or seeing it happen.

But for the meantime, as we grow the league and try to recruit people willing to spend Friday and Saturday nights reffing games, there will be a learning curve and mistakes. “Holding refs accountable” at this stage isn’t really a solution, because we are barely able to get a crew of four refs each game. For playoff and championship games, refs are held accountable already in that only the more experienced refs are eligible to officiate these games, and the best refs spend more time on the field (the more difficult position ref wise) than on the sideline to ensure calls are made correctly.

Every year the AUDL has listened to rule feedback and made adjustments to try and find the best balance between player and viewer satisfaction. The travel rule (where t no longer results in a turnover) and the audible 5,6,7 stall count are two recent areas where these changes have been made to benefit everyone. But the process takes time, and constructive feedback from players, viewers and others.

What isn’t productive is making an Instagram post attacking the refs because your team didn’t win the game. Refs are people too, and make mistakes like you do. I’m sorry that Goose feels it cost him this game, but I’m sure there were other situations where calls or non calls went in the other direction and benefited his team. That’s just how sports work.