Maulalltheway
Tom Lawton (22)
We really do have some excellent referees. In the old days when the social side of rugby was a lot bigger than it is today the refs would generally stay around and have a few beverages after the game. If we are to get more good quality referees we need to make the whole experience an enjoyable one. And we need to remunerate them appropriately. Travel expenses and at least $100+ a game for 1st grade games. Maybe that’s not enough.It should be a requirement that all clubs have refs qualified enough to do games below top grade. I know it’s not going to happen in the short term but that’s where we should be heading.
I reckon there is something to investigate here mate.
Now there are obviously funding issues which would surround this as far as course costs go.
If each club is required to have 6 qualified referees in their club we’d go a long way towards solving the issue. 6 is a big number however this would result in these people not being required to referee every weekend. You will uncover potentially 2 to 3 referees capable of climbing and developing into 1st grade referees this way. But will increase depth and at worst have properly referees 3rd grade games each weekend. Plenty to iron out but I think it is worth looking into. Current players, recently retired, people who love the game but can’t play for some reason or another.