A Different Lifestyle

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A little known fact is that the Thunder Whistle is the one used by Rugby referees around the world.

Hopping back a few years, ok more than a few I used to be a rugby referee as for me it was about making a difference. Being an armchair sports fan got the better of me as the reality is I needed to be involved. Being employed and playing rugby as an amateur do not fit kindly together as things can go horribly wrong. I know too many team mates over the years who hobbled around on crutches for months but those times were different than they are today.

Having employers who actually want you involved in the sporting world is rare as they will back you if something happens? In South Africa I worked for a cigarette firm who even gave you time off to recover after matches. If you were injured that wasn't a problem as they would have a chauffer to drive you around. I actually had a chauffer, but he cramped my style as I felt bad leaving him for hours on end sitting in the car. If your work was done for the day by lunchtime he was like an anchor you didn't want. Most of my "work" back then involved bar work so having a chauffer to drive you around was sometimes not such a bad idea. Can't see this happening today as that is an expense that can be cut immediately.

The same cigarette company in the UK loved sports but they were not so flexible when it came to employees. The rugby culture is different to other sports as it is and not being snobbish an upper/ middle class sport. When I first moved across the managers were all asking me what club I was joining which was rather awkward as they wanted me at their own clubs.

What it allowed me to do was ask openly where they stood if I broke a leg or an arm and the blowing bubble sessions happened. They all wanted me to play but were not committed if I got injured as that was extra curriculum that wasn't work related. They saw things differently to their sister company back in South Africa who saw sport as a door opener in business. Relationships are built that no one else can unless you are playing alongside or against others.

This was the main reason I turned to refereeing besides seeing bad calls on the television every weekend. This was more of a motivating factor as sitting watching inadequate people doing a job badly needed to change. Too may people complain and do nothing about it as they don't have the skills themselves. Sports fans love to bitch and moan but what are they going to change as talk is cheap.

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Never forgotten East Grinstead was the first Rugby Club to offer me a full massage as a warm up before the game.

When I was on the referee circuit as you travel extensively around the country doing multiple games over a weekend you realise this is a totally different lifestyle. As a player you arrive at a game in your blazer and go to the changing rooms. As a referee most times you will be met in the car park by a porter or a club official who will offer to carry your bag. It doesn't end there as an offer of a massage or a rub down to help you warm up is something that used to blow me away. I never said yes as I felt uncomfortable and can carry my own bag, but it just felt weird.

I know referees are a rare breed as back then only 1/30 games played countrywide had an official referee on the field. This is an appalling stat a where are the ex players who should be getting involved. Most referees have never played the game before and why most sports have problems as they miss so much. Having played the sport you see things differently as most of us knew how to get away with things like foul play.

My wish is that ex players pick up the whistle and get involved as it will raise the level of not only entertainment, but the sport in general. Players would not act injured or ask for players to be carded as that would not be tolerated. Foul play would disappear and player safety would increase immediately. You as an ex player know things and understand things that much better as you have a different knowledge having been in various situations yourself whilst playing.

Lets hope that at some point governing bodies see this and encourage ex players to take up the whistle and not just see management/coaching as the only way to stay in the game.



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(Edited)

My sister is an IRB qualified referee and met her husband, a rugby international, on the rugby field.
Refereeing provided a great connection and 3 gorgeous children and the whole family fantastic tickets to the Sydney Rugby World Cup.

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Pretty cool story with your sister. I used to get 10 tickets for Twickenham and they were always up with the dignitaries. The one match I was sitting next to the owners of Leicester Rugby Club which got rowdy as wagers were happening and I won lol. Wouldn't take their money as it was good banter. I was at the World Cup in Paris when South Africa had just beaten England. Literally 10 minutes after the game I received a phone call letting me know I had 10 tickets for the semi final the following week. They were a different class of people and one I miss.

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Yeah, playing amaeteur rugby comes with significant risks. My uncle played at a high level in the South Welsh leagues before rugby union went professional in the UK while also working as a police officer. One particularly bad injury left him paralysed in a hospital bed for a week, staring at nothing but the ceiling and he said that was the moment he knew he had to give up the sport.

Unfortuantely, I think the way that top athletes behave towards officials puts a lot of people off helping out even at grass roots level. Football is particularly bad and I really wish the relevant authorities would back the refs and just give them the power to yellow card any player who surronds them and tries to influence their decision.

Rugby generally does a better job of protecting officials and I like the idea that unless the ref wants to speak with a particular player then it's only the captain who is able to speak with them. Would it be so difficult to help enforce that in football?

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We actually had the Premier League referees join us regularly midweek for meetings. We told them they were not respected due to players taking their inner space and arguing their points. A player swore at me which happened once calling me the c word and he was red carded. I told him he was a c... for calling me a c... and that was the end of that.

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lol!

In any situation where you are managing behaviour, you have to draw your line in the sand straight away and when someone steps over it you punish them. Most of the time they won't do it again! But with these Premier League refs they've been taking that abuse for so long it'd be very difficult to change player behaviour and push them back across the line.

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Funny as we had a ref join us from the Premier League and happened to be that ref when Man Utd turned on him many years ago. I can recall Roy Keane in his face and a few others back then. He asked for help on what to do and we laid into him for allowing it to happen. Those players should have been carded. Before any match we would talk to the players and lay down the law on what was acceptable and what wasn't. There were no excuses then as they knew we were deadly serious. Premiership could be fixed immediately if the refs stepped up and gained respect. Respect is earned and they don't have it.

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Did you get any sense from the football refs that they weren't getting the backing from the powers that be?

I completely agree with what you're saying and you'd have thought that any ref would as well which makes me wonder why they aren't doing it?

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No backing from what we gathered and told them they had to change as a group and not be so amateurish. They came across as though they had no self belief which is probably down to them not having played the game at a decent level. If you don't have the confidence in your abilities then what are you doing reffing a premier game? The sport needs ex players to get involved. I know a few younger rugby players who retired earlier than they should due to serious concussions and this should have been an outlet for them to continue. Something similar should happen in foot ball getting players around the retiring age of 33 instead of them playing on in lower leagues until they are 40. This would transform the game immediately raising standards and behavior.

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Would be great to see more former players involved. Unfortunately it’s probably a bit of a vicious circle as the players themselves know the refs get no respect so the likelihood of them go into refereeing diminishes and we are stuck with lower quality candidates who end up getting more abuse!round and round we go

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Yes that seems the most likely outcome. Offering ex players a bigger salary would help paying for the experience so justifying the difference against the current crop of non playing refs. Problem is the FA is run by non players so this would never even be a consideration.

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I quite enjoyed refereeing after my time in soccer was done. It was a great way to help younger players hone their game in USA because mostly the coaching is done by parents who are totally unqualified to be a coach. They don't get paid anything and volunteer their time so we can't really get on their case too much but honestly, they don't have any idea what they are doing and this is reflected in the way the kids perform on the field. While I can't offer any strategy advice I do spend a lot of time explaining to the kids that this is not American football, as we often see in the sport in USA. There are so many fouls and the kids legitimately do not understand why they are not allowed to kick the hell out of the person's legs that has the ball.

On another note I once officiated a game in temperatures that were so cold that the little ball in the whistle froze to the side of it during the game, I'll never forget that because the whistle sounds so silly without the vibration.

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In rugby the same thing happens with many parents helping out and worse still at club level an official of the home club reffing the game. You cannot complain as if they are slightly biased as at least they are making the game happen.

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Its tough to be a rugby ref with the amount of rules there is.

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If you played the game you should know most of the rules so not really. Funny though as the way some players play they obviously don't now all of them. I think every top team should have a rule official as part of the team to help them understand more plus devise new plays that are legal.

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