CANTERBURY REFEREES LEADING THE WAY ON NATIONAL STAGE
A landmark year for Canterbury Rugby League in myriad areas has also been reflected in the refereeing sphere.
CRL has enjoyed a huge spike in new referees in 2024, as well as an unprecedented number featuring at national tournaments – including meteoric progress for several newcomers.
The influx of fledgling officials in Canterbury has been as necessary as it is impressive, dovetailing with another upsurge in players and teams locally.
“Overall, we had 20 new referees join us this year – eight junior referees, and six each in the youth and senior grades,” CRL Director of Football Jamie Lester says.
“It’s definitely needed with our growth of participation. We’ve had a 25 percent increase in playing numbers over the past two years, so we need to continue to grow our referee numbers to keep up with demand.”
Thirteen Canterbury referees have been busy in the middle or running the touchlines in representative rugby league over the past couple of months.
The 2023-24 Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership grand final referee, Jack Feavers, who also refereed Jersey Flegg Cup matches and earned a NSW Cup touch judge call-up this season, was joined in the NZRL National Premierships by experienced local whistle-blower’s Daryl Mataiti, Owen Harvey and Simon Buttery, and relative novices Micah Lepou and Porfi Vivas.
Jordyn Robertson, Darryn Hopewell, Reon Hatata and Dan Jourdain officiated South Island Championship matches.
Meanwhile, Feavers, Mataiti, Harvey and Robertson were on deck at the New Zealand Secondary Schools and National Youth Tournaments.
Lepou and Cheyenne Cleeve refereed at the NZSST, where Aleigha MacDonald Cope and Jackson McKnabb partook in an invaluable development opportunity as part of NZRL’s Young Referee Programme. MacDonald Cope went to feature at the girls’ National Youth Tournament in Tauranga.
HIGH-ACHIEVING FEAVERS LOOKS FORWARD TO SECOND CANTERBURY GF
Canterbury Rugby League implemented a refereeing initiative in 2024 to assist new referees.
“We introduced a Referee Development Programme this year after recognising a need to better support our new and developing referees last season,” Lester explains.
“We were fortunate to have some great new referees join our ranks in 2023, but our support systems needed to improve. We’ve since created some age-specific referee resources, provided a clear referee pathway, and put in place a junior, youth and senior referee coach to help new and developing referees’ specific needs.
“It’s about building our young referees’ confidence and developing their skillsets.
“We encountered a good problem this year with eight new referees joining our junior referee programme.
“Nathan Tau did a great job supporting them as junior referee coach – it was great seeing them develop throughout the season.”
Porfi Vivas, one of CRL’s new junior referees, went from refereeing his first game of rugby league to touch judging NZRL National Premiership games live on Sky Sport in one season.
“It was a remarkable achievement for Porfi and it demonstrates that the support structures we put in place this year were a great success,” Lester enthuses.
“Porfi was well supported by Nathan at the junior level and our senior referee coach, Jack Feavers, when he started touch judging senior matches. It’s a real testament to all their great work.”
On the back of the opportunity alongside Jackson McKnabb to further her development at the NZRL Secondary Schools Tournament, Aleigha MacDonald Cope finished the season touch judging the 18s Girls National Youth Tournament grand final.
“It was mean, pretty intense but real fun,” Aleigha says of her recent tournament experiences.
“I’ve learned heaps, I’ve only done the [12-year-old grade] this season in Christchurch, so coming to the Secondary Schools Tournament and even just doing the sidelines for the 16s and 18s games is a huge step up.
“On the lines you’re still doing a lot of running and learning from the refs that are in the middle. It’s definitely made me more confident to do 13s and 14s in the upcoming [CRL] season.”
Aleigha revealed Tau was instrumental in getting her involved in rugby league refereeing.
“I played touch rugby with Nathan, he ran a mini module at Hagley Park for rugby league referees and I’d already been doing touch reffing for about three years, so he asked if I wanted to give rugby league reffing a go.
“There’s definitely not as many females in the rugby league reffing space, but it’s getting bigger and bigger every year, and especially being a bit younger it’s quite fun and exciting – the older referees put you under their wing and you learn quite fast.
“It’s been amazing … they’ll be straight with you and help out with all of your queries. I was connecting with them at the national tournaments and they’re super open to giving advice and helping me out.”
Watch an NZRL interview with Aleigha HERE
Micah Lepou started refereeing in CRL’s youth grades under the guidance of youth referee coach Matt Peden and has also made remarkable progress in a short period of time, including officiating Division One and CRL Bartercard Women’s Premiership matches.
After being named referee of the tournament at the South Island 18s, he made the significant leap to touch judging and then refereeing matches in the National Women’s Premiership.
“It was pretty awesome, a cool experience to be out there – I was trying not to focus on the cameras being there and just do my job, do what I’ve been doing,” Micah says.
“I’ve watched the replay and there’s a few things to improve on, but overall I’m pretty happy with how it went.”
Refereeing has provided an avenue for Micah to stay involved in rugby league after injuries brought an end to his playing days.
“I played from when I was about 10 or 12, but I had a few concussions and injuries so I didn’t want to keep reinjuring myself,” the 24-year-old explains.
“I’d always thought about giving refereeing a go, I moved to Canterbury [from Tauranga] and knew there was pretty strong comp down here so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get started. I love sport and still wanted a way to be involved.
“[The referees in Canterbury] have been super supportive – Jordyn, Jack, Matt – and giving me a lot of feedback. I’ve just been trying to take it onboard and improve little by little, that support has been a big part of why I’ve done pretty well this year I think.
“I’d love one day to go to a Rugby League World Cup, and to be able to maybe get a couple of touchlines or be a New Zealand-based NRL referee – like what Paki (Parkinson) is doing at the moment.”
These rookie-year achievements highlight not only the value of CRL’s Referee Development Programme and the dedication of the young referees themselves, but the pathways available for those keen to progress in the rugby league officiating space.
But as anyone involved in grassroots sport will attest, there’s no such thing as too many referees – and Lester is eager to build on this season’s success.
“To have 12 CRL referees utilised for NZRL national tournaments and competitions was an amazing achievement – I’ve been told it was the most of any district throughout New Zealand,” he says.
“The rapid rise of Aleigha, Porfi and Micah has been incredible. It’s great to see us leading the way.
“The trick is to keep that momentum going. If anybody reading this wants to give refereeing a go, we have a great game, great people and great support. We even reimburse expenses to all our appointed referees!
“CRL’s referees do an excellent job; I couldn’t ask for a more dedicated and supportive group.”
