The NRL have announced changes aimed at improving refereeing in 2015, including nominating a senior referee who will control a minimum of 80 per cent of the game.
Two referees will still be used in each game but one will take charge, with control only handed to his assistant when he needs a breather.
The pair will work together as a team for most of the season to build up an on-field relationship.
NRL head of football Todd Greenberg is confident the tweaks will improve the quality of officiating.
“In the last 10 minutes of a game Johnathan Thurston will get his hands on the ball more than any other player in his team,” Greenberg said.
“The same principle applies in refereeing, you need a leader.”
NRL referees boss Tony Archer announced the move on Tuesday morning, when he also announced changes to help speed up the game, with players to be penalised for failing to instantly release an opponent after a tackle has been made.
“There will be a team leader appointed who will ref a minimum of 80 per cent of the game,” Archer said.
“He’ll ref from the ruck position and it will give them freedom to move. The team leader will wear an armband like a captain in soccer.
“We used the plan during the finals last year. We perhaps didn’t publicise it well enough but we were happy with how it went.
“The assistant ref can come in to assist whenever the team leader wants.
“This will allow him to get his heart rate down, be more composed and this will allow him to make better decisions.”
Archer predicted a rise in penalties in the opening weeks of the new season as players got used to the new laws around the ruck which the NRL hopes also reduce the number of three-man tackles.
Wrestling coach Milton Dymock, brother of Canterbury assistant coach Jim Dymock, has been brought in to work with the referees.
Dymock has worked with a number of NRL clubs and Archer said he would give referees a much better idea of what goes on in the ruck and what to look for.
“Players infringing at the ruck will be penalised,” Archer said. “Penalties will be high at the start, but the clubs have known about this since December.
“We’ve made 70 visits to clubs to brief them in full and they have had plenty of time to work on the changes that have to be made.
“The wrestling coach will work not only to educate the refs but also the match review committee when they are looking at incidents from games.”
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