AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE REFEREES' ASSOCIATION INC.

OUR LIFE MEMBERS

On 21 November 2009 two new deserving members of the refereeing fraternity joined the ranks of the ARLRA life members when they were presented with their badges by the Chairman of the ARLRA, Mr Dennis Spagarino.

Tim Bliss of the Toowoomba Rugby League Referees' Association is a former QLD State Cup referee who has reached the heights of the game as both a referee and touch judge officiating at Test and State-of-Origin level. But apart from his on-field exploits Tim has made a significant contribution at the administrative and coaching level within his own association and that of his state. Theer are too many of today's top referees who walk away from their craft after their active days are over but Tim is not one of them. As a regional coordinator for QLD he overseas the development of some of that state's up and coming young referees and the future of our game will be well served as a result.

Richard Johnston (right) is one of our game's legends and a prolific creator of coaching and development resources for referees. There is practically nothing that Ritchie doesn't know about rugby league and refereeing and yet he is proud of the fact that he is forever learning new things about both. His contribution to refereeing development is probably unsurpassed in that the bulk of the tools that we have in our refereeing education arsenal today can be seen as attributable to Ritchie and his long time fellow referee developer, Mick Stone, both of whom are valued coaching and development consultants to the ARLRA. Ritchie is particularly interested in the development of younger referees and has had significant success in helping them reach the peak of officiating and at the same time aiding in their development them as good people. Ritchie has made a truly massive contribution to refereeing in Australia and overseas.

On 6 December 2008 the ARLRA inducted two more very worthy referees into its esteemed group of life members.

Michael Stone of the Western Suburbs District Rugby League Referees' Association is probably one of the best known whistleblowers of recent years, not only becasue of his on-field record but also because of the significant amount of work that he has put into the development of refereeing education that has benefitted referees from all around the nation. He has the reached the pinnacle of his craft having officiated in grand finals at the elite level, State-of-Origin fixtures and Test Matches. Through all of this he has not lost touch with refereeing at the grass roots level and has continued to offer his services to coach and develop younger up and coming referees from both the city and the bush. Michael is truly the epitome of what it means to be a life member of the ARLRA.

Don Courts (right) is from the Penrith District Rugby League Referees' Association of which he is a life member and past Vice-President and President. Over the past thirty-five years tehre have been many a very successful referee from the Penrith District gone on to bigger and better achievements under Don's astute guidance and the Penrith Association itself has been at the forefront of refereeing due largely to Don's leadership. He is one of the truly remarkable men involved in refereeing today.

The 28th of October 2006 saw another two ARLRA life memberships presented to well known refereeing identities by Association Chairman Nick Euclid OAM.

Denis Spagarino of the Western Suburbs District Rugby League Referees' Association has not only reached the elite level of refereeing through his ppointments to First Grade level in the ARL, but has also been instrumental in the development of many of the top grade referees that we have in the Australian game today through his involvement in training and development within the NSWRL structure.

Bob Styles (right) is from the Canterbury-Bankstown District Rugby League Referees' Association of which he is a life member and past Vice-President and President. He is also a life member of the NSWRLRA and was a recipient of the Australian Sports Medal in 2000. A former top grade touch judge, Bob was one of the driving forces in the establishment of the ARLRA in that he served as its inaugural CEO from 2001 to 2003. Just like the life mebership recipients before them, both of these gentlemen have made enormous contributions to the development of refereeing in Australia.

On the 20th of November 2004 we saw two more refereeing legends presented with life membership of the ARLRA by Association Chairman Nick Euclid OAM.

Noel Bissett of the Canberra District Rugby League Referees' Association has had a long distinguished career both on the field as a representative referee and off the field as an administrator. He has controlled 275 NSW Country First Grade centres and over 100 Winfield Cup fixtures as well as matches involving visiting international teams before becoming an NRL video referee in the late 1990's. Noel has been awarded life membership of Group 8 Country Rugby League, Canberra & District RL Referees Association, Canberra & District Rugby League (Raiders) and the NSWRL Referees Association in recognition of his tremendous contribution to refereeing.

Doug Wintin (right) is from the Cronulla-Sutherland District Rugby League Referees' Association of which he has been a member for 40 years and a life member for 29 years. He is also a life member of the NSWRLRA, NSWRL and Cronulla-Sutherland Junior Rugby League. He was a recipient of the Australian Sports Medal in 2001. Doug's refereeing resume reads like a who's who with enormous involvement as an active referee, an administrator and a coach, all at both local and NSW level. Both of these gentlemen are truly worthy recipients.

Three more life memberships of the ARLRA were presented by Chairman Nick Euclid OAM on the 14th of November 2003 when Kevin Jeffes, Tony Young and Bruce Chapman joined our two existing life members.

The first recipient for 2003 was Kevin Jeffes (dec) from the Parramatta District Rugby League Referees' Association who made an outstanding contribution to not only his local association but also to the NSWRLRA over a period exceeding forty years. He had been a coach at junior and senior levels, Advisory Board member at district and representative levels and held numerous positions in refereeing development. Kevin passed away in March 2010.

Tony Young's rugby league resume is awesome and covers nearly sixty years from the time he started his playing career in country NSW. His life memberships include NSW Group 9 Referees, NSW Group 9 Rugby League, NSW CRLRA, Riverina Referees, Riverina Schoolboys' Football Carnival, Boorowa Junior Rugby League Club, NSW Group 9 Junior Rugby League, Young & District Junior Rugby League, NSW Woodbridge Cup Rugby League, Young Junior Rugby League Club, NSW Group 12 Referees and NSW Woodbridge Cup Referees. Truly a remarkable record and deserving of life membership of the national Association.

Bruce Chapman was a development officer with the NSW CRLRA and a life member of Canberra & District Referees' Association, NSW Group 8 Rugby League and the NSWCRLRA. He is also a recipient of the Denis Braybrook Award "For Service to the Game and for Junior Referees". As well as an outstanding record of on field achievements including numerous representative NSW Country representative fixtures, City v Country and matches featuring visiting international touring teams, Bruce's contribution on the administration side has also been enormous. He is a former Deputy Chairman of the NSW CRLRA and member of the former NSWRL Exam Board. He has held the positions of President and Secretary of NSW Group 8 Referees as well as being the Chairman of the NSW CRLRA Coaching Panel. His involvement in the organisation of the NSW CRLRA annual workshops is legendary.

The 15th of November 2002 saw the presentation of the ARLRA's first two life memberships when Association Chairman Nick Euclid OAM presented this prestigious honour to Ian McCall and Eric Cox OAM. Both Ian and Eric have made outstanding contributions to refereeing in Australia with the fruits of their efforts being evident in local, national and international arenas.

Ian McCall (left) is a former President of the New South Wales Referees' Association (of which he is a current life member) and was also the founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ARLRA. He already holds life membership of the Parramatta District Rugby League Referees' Association and the New South Wales Rugby League. His 26 years of active refereeing saw him reach the top as a touch judge with appointments to Great Britain v. Australia test matches in 1979 and 1984, Queensland v. New South Wales State-of-Origin in 1981 and Winfield Cup First Grade Grand Finals in 1980, 1981 and 1984.

Eric Cox OAM (dec) (right) was a legend in rugby league circles. A former top grade referee and director of referees for the elite Australian competition, he was a life member of the St George Referees' Association, the New South Wales Referees' Association and the New South Wales Rugby League where he was a Vice-President and served on a number of its committees. Eric passed away in November 2006.