CBRA - 2009 Annual Report

DIRECTOR OF REFEREES’ REPORT Mr. John McCormack It is with pleasure that I submit to the members the Director of Referees report for season 2009. This season was again competitive in all junior and senior age groups and all referees performed commendably throughout the season and during the finals which resulted in a high standard of play by the players and it made it all the more difficult for the Directors of Referees to appropriately appoint referees into their rightful grade.

The season started early with a number of trials for the Bulldogs junior reps in late 2008 and kicked off again in February 2009 with the district trials from the first week of March. Even though there was no payment involved many referees ran most weekends and covered for those referees who had other commitments such as summer sport. Refereeing is all about supporting the game of Rugby League and the enjoyment that the players receive along with the enjoyment the referees should receive by being an active participant rather than the monetary reward. Thank you to all those young and older members who helped out in the hot weather!

One of the features of 2009 which has largely gone unnoticed is that we did not receive one “official” complaint from the junior league clubs. I do believe that the rapport between the referees and the clubs has improved over the years, possibly due to the effects of the code of conduct and probably due to the strong relationship the Association has with the Junior League.

When I look back and critically review the performance of the Directors of Referees and the Advisory Board in 2009 that are responsible for on-field coaching, development and evaluation of referees, I feel that our performance was below par for what the referees deserve. There are a couple of reasons for this view – 1. Personally, I was not as active in watching referees this year as I would have liked due to balancing work, family and football commitments. The additional workload was then left to Kim and George and the Advisory panel.

2. The on-going and increasing commitment required of our Graded members meant that they were not able to devote as much time to the District throughout the season. However, I acknowledge the efforts of David Abood and Richard Daizli who made themselves available to ensure we evaluated all referees during the finals.

3. Finally, the number of active Advisory Board members was down on previous years and the work was left to a few dedicated members.

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