NRL referee development officer Ryan Schmiedel is preparing to do "a lot of running" in 2021 unless more people come on board to referee Group 4 games.
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The group currently has four first grade-accredited referees, Schmiedel said, who will likely have to double up most weekends to cover the lower grade games as well.
In total, Schmiedel is likely to have 10 or 11 referees available to cover all senior Group 4 games and ideally that number would be double that.
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"Twenty [referees] would make it very comfortable," Schmiedel said.
"Once you count juniors in there as well, that'd make 60 [referees total] which would be a very comfortable number."
A foundation 1 referee course will be held on Sunday, February 28 at West Tamworth League Club.
The course is for new referees and Schmiedel said he'd love to see some recently retired players there.
"It doesn't matter how old you are," Schmiedel said.
"If they can't really play but can still run around and they know the game, they are good ones to have [refereeing]."
Referees are then able to take part in programs and sessions to better their skills.
The current crop of Group 4 referees had the chance to do just that a couple weeks ago when Gavin Badger was in town with the Wests Tigers.
The group of mainly junior referees used the session to get tips off the former NRL referee.
"The juniors absolutely loved it," Schmiedel said.
"I've talked to a few kids since then and they really listened and got a lot of out it."
More information on the foundation 1 referee course can be found at the Group 4 Rugby League Referee's Association Facebook page.
Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
