Hon. Secretary’s Report

Mr. Mario Cafarelli

Mr. Chairman and Members,

I am pleased to present for your consideration the Secretary’s Annual Report for the 2007 season.

The season commenced with no changes to the committee from 2006. The association’s patrons also remained unchanged, namely Messes Peter Winchester, Bradley Clyde and Garry Hughes. We thank these three gentlemen for their support of the association during the year.

One change of some significance occurred with the inclusion of Elayne Jeffcoat as an Honorary Member. Elayne became the association’s first female Honorary Member for her work with social secretary and husband, Glenn.

Early in the season the Trustees of the Leo Randle Foundation made funds available for the association to conduct two exchange programs. Financial assistance was also provided for the Annual Blue & White Cabaret and funds were also set aside, in the form of a scholarship, for a member to attend an Outward Bound program.

Whilst the offer of an Outward Bound program was not taken up, two exchange programs were conducted in July. Chris Cafarelli and Paul Archer travelled to Perth whilst Graham Hinds and I visited the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. In Perth, Chris refereed three games, u15s, u17s and a Women's game when the scheduled referee failed to turn up for the match. Chris also officiated as a touch judge in a Tooheys Cup First Grade match. Meanwhile, on the Sunshine Coast, Graham refereed his first u16s game on Friday night and backed up on Saturday morning with a further two games.

Both Chris and Graham gained a lot from the experience. All four of us commented on the different standards of football, the different approach to the game by the local officials and, above all, the vastly different attitudes from spectators. Both these exchange programs proved to be extremely successful and both districts are keen to return the visits in 2008. Thank you to Andrew Wareham, Paul Beasant and Mark Langlands from Sunshine Coast and also to Peter Watkins and Greg Raftery

from Western Australia for their hospitality and for giving our members an opportunity to officiate in their respective districts.

Sponsors Canterbury League Club was the association’s major sponsor again in 2007. The healthy relationship has continued for many years and we are always extremely grateful for the on going support. The association extends thanks to John Ballesty and the Directors for their continued support of the association.

2007 was the second, and final, year of our Sleeve Sponsorship by Ronnies Environmental Services. We are very appreciative of the support that Paul Hassarati and Craig Homans have given us during 2006 and 2007. We are also pleased to announce that Paul and Yvette Hassarati will continue to sponsor our association through their company “Ronnies Demolition & Excavation” in 2008.

Andrew Taylor has also announced he will extend his Shorts sponsorship with As Clean As A Whistle for a further twelve months. We thank Andrew for his support over the last two years and look forward to his continued support in 2008.

Junior League Junior League CEO, Paul Tycehurst, announced his retirement during the season from all positions with the Bulldogs Football Club. Paul was the Junior League CEO for seven years as well as the Bulldogs development officer. Paul’s replacement was Kevin Shanahan. Kevin has settled into the role and is always willing to work cooperatively with the referees’ association whenever the need arises.

Congratulations to Kevin, and to Roger Harborne for another successful season with minimal disruptions and no major problems.

We must, however, remember to remain vigilant and not take the relative lack of major problems, violence etc, for granted. It was only three short seasons ago that one of our members suffered a major assault by a player. We should always remember that our role as referees, by its nature, attracts unwanted attention from people who have lost the understanding of what the game is about. It is up to each of us to recognize the potential for problems and work to avoid them and to also look out for each other at all times.

Membership & Meetings The association conducted fourteen meetings during the season and, whilst the average attendance of 46 was down on previous years, the numbers indicate the members are happy with the fortnightly format.

Unfortunately, the number of new recruits for 2007 is a concern. The number of new members recruited in 2007 was probably the lowest it has been for some years. Jihad Afchal and Nathan Loveday were the only two new faces to take up

refereeing during the season. We were fortunate to see a number of former active members return to the park to help boost the numbers a little. They were Michael White, Peter Tzamouranis and Tony Dosen. Michael O’Neill, also a former member, rejoined the association and wasted no time getting involved again. Michael took on the task of recording referees’ games on Sundays.

The committee held a meeting in October and the main item on the agenda was Recruitment and Retention. The association will be facing a shortage of experienced referees over the next few years unless we act now to replenish the ranks of active members. We will be targeting schools and clubs and seeking interest from recently retired players who may wish to stay involved in the game.

Committees/Delegates Members of the Gear, Social, Golf, Training & Development and Judiciary Committees, as well as our various delegates, were all kept busy during the season with their respective duties. Thank you to all the members of these committees and delegates. Without your efforts the association would not function as smoothly as it does.

The Seminar Committee put together a seminar in February to kick off the new season. Michael Stone from the NRL and Ben Cummins, NRL referee, spoke at the seminar and shared their knowledge and experience with our members. Thank you to both gentlemen for making themselves available for the seminar. Special thanks to Ben who stepped off an aeroplane and into a taxi to come straight to the seminar after an NRL trial match the previous night. Thanks also to John McCormack and David Abood for organizing the seminar.

The Rules Committee formulated a policy for active members, which was that all active members were to complete rules exams in March and in June. Results of the March exam indicated there was still a lot of work to be done in this area, both by the individual members who underperformed, and by the association as a whole, to help members reach a level that is expected from an active referee. It was pleasing to see the results from the June exam showed a significant improvement on the previous exam. It is important that, as referees, we maintain a high level of knowledge of the rules by continually reading the Laws Of The Game and making sure we know the rules as well as we possible can.

Training & Development The NRL introduced a new concept in Hussain Iskander and Tony Archer

2007 whereby each district referees association was connected with a first grade NRL referee. The intention was that the NRL referee would visit the association and give talks to the members. He would also be available for training to conduct drills and skills sessions. As a result Tony Archer visited our meeting in May and gave a talk to the members about refereeing at the higher level. Tony was also scheduled to attend one of our training sessions but a spate of bad weather prevented his attendance until the end of the season. Tony will remain with our association for 2008.

Perry Tzamouranis, in conjunction with Richard Daizli, continued to run our Tuesday night sessions again in 2007. The average attendance was just fourteen active members. Weekly attendance figures are kept and forwarded to the director on a regular basis. This is a poor figure considering training is a requirement for active members. Thank you to Perry and Richard, and also to Mark Mulligan from Bankstown Sports Club for allowing us to use Steve Folkes Reserve each week.

Social The cricket day scheduled for February was unfortunately washed out. Judging by the comments from many members it was a disappointing outcome and I think the cricket day will be here for a few more years to come.

Vanessa and Chris Bettiol

Bob Garwood, John Leeds and Ray Payne The Annual Blue & White Cabaret was very well attended with about 160 people enjoying the night. Pre dinner drinks in the Terrace Bar proved to be very popular and the Blueberry Hill room looked extra special with the added touch of table decorations provided by the League Club. Chris Bettiol was honoured with the presentation of his Life Membership Blazer. Congratulation to Chris for receiving this great honour. Congratulations to Glenn Jeffcoat and his social committee for organizing a great night. I must also give a special thanks to our longest serving member, John Leeds. These days John lives in New Zealand but we were fortunate enough to have John at our function this year. John was in Sydney at the time and took the opportunity to attend the function, as well as one of our meetings a few weeks earlier.

Appointments & Advisory Board John McCormack had the unenviable role of Director again in 2007. John was assisted this year by Kim Archer and Chris Bettiol, who replaced Bob Garwood. Thank you to John, Kim and Chris for their work during the season. As John would already know, the role of the Director is not an easy one. It takes someone with an understanding of refereeing, a high level of integrity and a willingness to make the tough decisions from time to time.

John’s role is always made a little easier with the assistance of the members of the advisory board, who give up their free time to attend grounds on weekends to look at referees’ performances and report back to John, Kim and Chris. Thank you to all the members of the advisory board for your efforts during the season.

Interdistrict Squad In 2007 the association provided three members to the NSW Interdistrict Squad. They were Shane Merry, Chris Cafarelli and Hussain Iskander. All three members represented their association with pride. This was Chris’s and Hussain’s first season at the next level and they both grasped the opportunity with both hands, showing Les Matthews and his team they each have the potential to go further. Shane and Chris both received Jersey-Flegg touchline appointments during the season. Hussain finished the season with a semi-final touchline appointment in S. B. Ball. Well done to all three members.

Grade – NSWRL/NRL Jimmy Oliveira was graded as a touch judge at the end of the 2006 season. He was followed into grade by Adam Gee in March. Adam was graded as a referee, our first such grading since David Abood and Wayne Loveday in the mid 1990s. Both members received good appointments during the season, considering this was their first year at the higher level.

Our other graded members during the season were David Abood and Mohamad Fajajo, who both continued as regular NRL sideline officials. Also, Mathew Damaso built on his success of 2006 and established himself in the Premier League squad, one step away from first grade. Richard Daizli had yet another good season and finished with an ingoal appointment in the Jersey-Flegg Grand Final at Telstra Stadium. Both Richard and Mathew also received Premier League Semi-Final touchline appointments.

Congratulations to all our graded referees for their various successes during the season.

The NSWRLRA held its 100th Annual General Meeting in December. At that meeting John McCormack was elected a Life Member of that association. Congratulations to John. This is a fantastic achievement for John and for our association in general.

Awards Congratulation to – Chris Bettiol for Life Membership 2007. Colin Turnell for Representation of Life Membership. Peter Longhurst for The Leo Randle Award 2007. Brad Zarb for The Clubb-Johnson Trophy 2007. Mark Zada for The Farrelly-Dick Trophy 2007. Scott Butler for the Junior League’s Appreciation Award 2007.

All these members were very deserving of their awards.

Tod Walker and Colin Turnell Scott Butler

Vale The association’s deepest sympathy is extended to Kim Archer and John Ellis on the loss of their father late in the year. To any member who lost a loved one, our thoughts are with you.

General John McCormack has advised the executive he will not be seeking re-election as Treasurer for 2008. John has served the association as Treasurer for a total of 11 years and has done an outstanding job. John’s commitment to the role was matched by his skills as an accountant and by his high level of integrity. I thank John for his efforts over the years and I sincerely hope he sees fit to continue to contribute to the association in years to come.

Congratulations to Matthew Zada, Mark Zada and Matthew Farrelly who sat for their HSC exams during the year and achieved very good results. But there was no time to relax. In November all three were invited to attend Interdistrict Reps training by Les Matthews and my spies tell me they are all training well.

Michael Chahoud did not enjoy the best of health during the year. Michael suffered a relapse of his condition from the previous year. He has responded well to treatment but was unable to make himself available for any appointments during the year. He did, however, gain a jersey when the Bulldogs gave him the No. 18 jersey for a night at a home game at Telstra Stadium. We wish Michael the best and look forward to seeing him back on the field in 2008.

Ron Peters, a life member, has also not been in the best of health. Ron was visited by a few members at his home on the south coast. He was very appreciative that a number of members - friends - took the time to make the journey to see him. Les Matthews also had a stint in hospital but has now made a full recover, much to the relief of his wife Bev. In November, Kim Archer had an appointment with the surgeon’s knife and spent the lead up to Christmas being waited on, hand-andfoot, by none other than the President himself.

The Refs’ Kennel continued to keep members entertained and informed thanks to the efforts of Chris Cafarelli from the social committee. Chris and Adam Gee also gave a great performance at the annual Sorbent Awards. Absolutely nobody was safe from ridicule. The website was also well maintained by Mark and Matthew Zada. Plans are on the drawing board for a new look website in 2008. Thanks to both these members of our “IT Department” for their work with our website.

It seems each year that more and more schools are asking for referees for their mid week competitions. They are fortunate we have a few members who are happy to make themselves available for these games. Thank you to all the members who have helped with midweek games. Your willingness to help always makes my job a lot easier.

Finally, thank you to Paul and the rest of the committee for your efforts and assistance during the year. Thank you also to my family – Anne-Maree, Chris, Dan and Alex, who continue to be very loving and understanding.

Good luck to everyone in 2008. Set your goals early and “don’t take your eyes off the ball”. Ron Peters with Peter Ryan, Tom Healy, Colin Turnell and Paul Archer.

MARIO CAFARELLI HON. SECRETARY