There has already been too much attention paid to referees this season, but on Saturday night I’ll be watching one with keen interest, and hopefully it will become a good news story. Former Roosters player Luke ‘Diamond’ Phillips will make his debut as an NRL referee in the Storm versus Sharks match.
His journey through the refereeing ranks started in 2007 and it will be great to see a former NRL player making that transition.
From the outset, I don’t wish to downplay the efforts of all the other referees who worked hard to reach the NRL. And they should be applauded. But it’s great to see someone from the playing ranks make that transition.
It would be good if the NRL was able to tap into the pool of ex-players to increase the competition for spots amongst the ranks of the referees.
I’m sure referees are like players in that greater competition for places should logically bring about better performance.
One of the biggest criticisms we hear about referees is that they have “no feel” for the game. That, not having played the game at the level, means they are often duped or follow the law too closely to the detriment of the game itself.
There is some merit to the argument and it will be interesting to see whether Phillips displays any greater understanding because of his history as a player.
It is also great for young referees you ply their trade on weekends with little thanks and plenty of abuse from knuckle dragging parents.
It’s become a national sport to abuse referees and while most ex-players join the queue to bag them as media commentators that one is willing to join the dark side should also be something of an olive branch between players and officials.
Hopefully, that Phillips was willing to give refereeing “a go” might encourage others who are quick to express their dismay with the quality of officiating to also try their hand.
I’m confident Robert Finch will also be watching his performance as he’ll be keen to show what his role can produce rather than just a string of excuses to a blood thirsty mob each Tuesday.
In some ways it is slightly ironic that the most experienced referee has brought so much controversy to the game this week and yet the most inexperienced one could repair much of the damage to the reputation of referees with a solid performance.
But, of course, the real irony is that if he does a really good job, we should barely know he is there.
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