Richard Silverwood officiated in Super League for 15 years until he finally hung up his whistle in 2016.
This came three years after he refereed the 2013 Rugby League World Cup Final between New Zealand and Australia at Old Trafford.
The home of Manchester United will again play host to the World Cup Final on Saturday but once again will not involve England after they were beaten by Samoa in the semi-finals last weekend.
As always when a team is knocked out of a World Cup, there has been an investigation from just about everyone over what went from for England.
Some have suggested that England need more players playing in the NRL but in the mind of Silverwood, the solution to England’s woes is in improving Super League with a higher salary cap and a changed approach to officiating.
He took to Twitter to say: “We need to fix our competition. Higher Salary Cap. Less games, bigger pool of players to pick from. Sort the officiating out so games aren’t nit-picked and less stop start. Had England played smart the would be in the final.”
That said, he stressed that there was a lot to be proud about following the World Cup: “A lot to be proud of from WC. PDRL World Champions. Wheelchair hopefully the same. Ladies done fantastic and closing the gap between NZ and AUS. As for the men, again done well but it still highlights the issue with SL. Get SL right and we will come out the right side. Over to IMG.”
