HIGH-ACHIEVING FEAVERS LOOKS FORWARD TO SECOND CANTERBURY GF
Jack Feavers’ appointment to his second straight CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership grand final comes on the back of recent milestones that reflect his rapid progress in the refereeing ranks.
Over the past couple of years Blenheim-based Feavers has racked up thousands upon thousands of kilometres to referee senior Canterbury Rugby League matches on weekends, as well as countless junior matches on weeknights.
His extraordinary dedication was detailed in our profile article last year.
But that commitment is bearing major rewards, following up regular roles in NSWRL’s Harold Matthews Cup (under-17s) and SG Ball Cup (under-19s) with his first Jersey Flegg Cup (under-21s) matches with the whistle and running the touchlines in NSW Cup.
Feavers made his Flegg debut in unfamiliar and challenging conditions, controlling the Kaviti Silktails’ match against the Warriors last month in Lautoka, Fiji…in the middle of a tropical thunderstorm and oppressive heat.
Last Friday night he ran the touchlines for the Warriors’ NSW Cup clash with Parramatta at Mt Smart Stadium, then backed up the next day for the same clubs’ Jersey Flegg fixture at North Harbour Stadium – a dramatic encounter that featured a disallow try on the last play of the game that would have levelled the scores.
“I’m just so grateful to be honest, it’s happened so quickly and that’s because of the time and effort that people here like Alan Caddy, Paki Parkison and Liam O’Brien have put into my development, it’s huge,” Feavers says.
“It’s the hours of their own time they dedicate to reviewing games and clips of decisions – I wouldn’t be doing anywhere near the level of footy I’m doing now without their level of support and guidance.
“I feel like there’s a weight on my shoulders to perform for those people, that their support and guidance is [going to the right place], but I’m very grateful to have those opportunities.
“Then there’s sacrifices of my partner, Naketa, and our kids, Charlie and Tenesey. I wouldn’t be able to dedicate so much time to footy without Naketa holding it together at home. The kids miss out on plenty of dad time while I’m away and I’m so lucky that they’re so understanding and supportive.”
“The speed of the game [in the NSWRL competitions] is the biggest difference. If I look at how far I run in a game in Canterbury versus how much I run at that level, it’s quite a dramatic change.
“It’s different footy and the different rules are quite challenging, going from [NSWRL] where you’ve got six-agains and quick taps from a penalty, optional positions of scrums and handovers, to coming back into domestic footy without those rules.
“I’ve had a couple of embarrassing ones in Canterbury where I’ve waved a six-again and realised you don’t have that here and I’ve had to correct myself [and vice versa].”
This week his focus reverts to the Canterbury Rugby League scene and a blockbuster Pat Smith Trophy Challenge grand final between Hornby Panthers and Halswell Hornets at Ngā Puna Wai.
Feavers’ first CRL premiership decider 12 months ago was testing, fought on a knife’s edge and featuring several tough calls.
The aftermath proved one of the most difficult periods of Feavers’ long refereeing career. He provides a candid insight into the psyche of an official who demands the highest standards of himself.
“Doing a grand final is always special and always something you want to do – it was such an honour to be appointed, cracking game, and I went into that game feeling like I’d improved,” Feavers reflects.
“But if I’m completely honest, the four or five weeks after that grand final was the hardest I’ve ever had refereeing-wise.
“I’m very self-critical, any game I get to watch back I’ll spend hours tearing it apart, why I made decisions that I made – and that game was no different.
“Coming off that game, I wasn’t completely happy with how I went. I’ve been refereeing for a long time, but I don’t think I’ve been as critical of my performance or watched replays of one decision so many times.
“It really rattled me and it took a while to find my groove again. We went straight into [the NZRL National] Premiership, and I should have been really excited for that step up, but I’ve never been so nervous about holding the whistle again.”
In another example of his drive, Feavers has his sights firmly fixed on producing a performance he can be proud of in this Sunday’s grand final.
“I came into this year with a goal of getting to that [grand final] stage again – probably more for myself than anything, to put the wrongs right a little bit.
“Refereeing is so similar to playing in a lot of ways – you’re going to have good games and bad games, there’s going to be decisions you wished you’d made [the same as] passes you wished you’d thrown – I don’t think many people understand that.
“[Grand finals are] another similarity: players want to play in that environment and test themselves on the biggest stage, referees want to do the same.
“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to do that again.”
While he may be hard to please when it comes to his own displays in the middle, Feavers’ contribution to Canterbury Rugby League has been invaluable.
CRL CEO Malcolm Humm congratulated Feavers for his recent accomplishments, while also recognising the hard work he continues to put in for the game locally.
“Canterbury Rugby League is thrilled to see the richly deserved career milestones Jack has recently achieved in NSWRL’s competitions,” Humm says.
“Jack has been an incredible asset to the game here and his quality as a referee is surpassed only by his dedication.
“We’re very fortunate to again have a referee of Jack’s standard controlling our men’s premiership grand final, particularly amid his busy NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg schedule.”
Naturally, his NSWRL appointments have placed some limits on the amount of refereeing he has been able to in Canterbury in 2024.
But he certainly still takes his role within the CRL refereeing group seriously, particularly from a mentorship perspective.
“I haven’t been there as much as I’d like because I’ve been away with the NSWRL stuff, but I’m still enjoying it,” Feavers explains.
“[The CRL refereeing group] is in a rebuilding phase, we’ve lost a lot of experience but we’ve got a good group of younger referees coming through.
“I see my role as supporting them and passing onto them the things that have been given to me, setting the right examples for them. While we’re in this rebuilding phase we have struggled to fill [appointments] for those midweek games, so there has been more travel but it’s all worth it in the end.”
The adage that without referees we don’t have a game rings as true as ever.
While the game is flourishing at grassroots level, attracting referees remains a constant struggle.
Feavers has selflessly stepped into the breach time and again, but he implores others to pitch in and get involved in a vital area of the code.
“We’re really short,” he says bluntly.
“For example there was a weekend where I did a reserves game in the middle, a premiers game in the middle straight afterwards, and touchlines for the junior grand final day on the Sunday – and that’s just because there isn’t anybody else.
“In saying that, it was the highlight of my season – I could hardly move after doing a reserves into premier double-up the day before, but being able to run a few lines and support the next generation of referees was really special. Worth the cramp in Kaikoura on the way home for sure!
“But I’ll get a phone call from Jordan (Chand) at CRL on a Monday afternoon saying we’ve got two games at Ngā Puna Wai and we don’t have any refs, so I’ll jump in the car and come down from Blenheim to make sure those games go ahead.
“There are pathways for referees. We’ve got three or four young guys coming through Canterbury who could well be in the position I am in two or three years’ time if they continue with how quickly they’ve progressed this year.
“People think you have to move to Australia for progression, but actually those opportunities are available much quicker in New Zealand.
“We’ve got Paki Parkinson running the touchline for the NRL, but he’s available for us every week for the national squad to support us and help us develop – you’d never get that access in Australia.”
