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Broncos to Trial Two Refs.
Wednesday December 29, 2004
The Broncos will help trial the NRLs innovative 'referee interchange system' in the round five Telstra Cup premiership match against Parramatta at Suncorp Stadium on April 10.
The NRL yesterday announced the matches in which it will conduct the trial of the referee interchange system over the first five weeks of the premiership, with the Broncos-Eels clash the final hit-out for the 2005 experiment. The trial will be monitored and evaluated on a weekly basis before any decision is taken about the longer term future of the concept.
At each of the five matches the referees’ coach on the day will decide when, or even if, the main referee should be given a ‘break’ during the respective matches.
NRL Referees’ coach
Robert Finch believes the programme will help guard against physical and mental fatigue, provide a pressure release in difficult matches, assist in blooding new talent, expand the base of experienced referees, and increase both longevity and consistency.
“We won’t be making an interchange for the sake of making it and the state of the game will always have to be taken into account,” Finch explained.
“But if the opportunity is there to interchange the referee it gives the more senior guy who started the match a break and the less experienced referee an important opportunity. Referees will tell you that the most difficult period is to establish the flow of the game and the senior referee will have had the job of doing that.
“There’s no question that the physical training being undertaken by referees today means that the area we are really looking to is mental fatigue rather than tiredness but it is an important factor. It is likely the senior referees would not be a part of the trial but our younger guys could really benefit from this.
“Refereeing is an area of enormous pressure and we have to make sure we are creating opportunities to develop and encourage them.”
After the first five weeks of the premiership, the NRL will review the trial and receive feedback from clubs before deciding whether to make it a regular feature.
“We were never looking to introduce interchange in every match,” Mr Finch explained.
“But it is the kind of program that, if it works, we could expand as we have sufficient new referees coming through.”
The interchange system will be trialled in:
Round 1 March 12 Sharks v Panthers (Toyota Park)
Round 2 March 19 Dragons v Storm (WIN Stadium)
Round 3 March 28 Rabbitohs v Raiders (Aussie Stadium)
Round 4 April 2 Cowboys v Knights (Dairy Farmers Stadium)
Round 5 April 10 Broncos v Eels (Suncorp Stadium )
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