Up until the year 1949 the QRL Referees Badge was worn, but in that year the QRL ruled that each District League strike its own Referees Badge. The Association's first badge was a shield with a poinsettia in the centre surrounded by the letters "BRL" and with the word "Referee" underneath.
In the early 1980s, the Association changed to its second badge which was a poinsettia inside a Q with the words "Brisbane Division" above the flower and the word "Referee" below.
The third and current badge of the Association is the poinsettia surrounded by the words "Brisbane Rugby League Referee"
The Association also presents special badges to members - for Life Members and for members giving 10, 20 or 30 years service to the Association.
Special lapel badges have been struck for the 50 year Jubilee in 1976 and the 75th Anniversary in 2001.
The Association was represented on the BRL from 1926 until suspended on 22/06/27, was reinstated in 1931 and was represented until 1980 when a major reorganisation of the league was made. Representation was renewed after a further reorganising of all leagues by QRL in 1993. From 2001, the Co-ordinator of the South East Division Referees' Board holds a seat on the South East Division Board.
The Association has been well represented by a number of peope, as listed in the Honour Roll.
From 2001, a new board, the South East Division Referees Board was established. J McLeod occupied the position of chairman of the board with D Stubbins occupying the position in 2002 which he holds to this day. This board comprises members of both the Brisbane Rugby League Referees Association Incorporated and the Brisbane Rugby League Junior Division Referees Association Incorporated. J Topp has occupied the position of secretary of the board since inception.
For various reasons over the years headquarters have moved from place to place, as follows:
In 1976, the Association entered into an agreement with the Caledonian Club to purchase a half interest in the complex at Kangaroo Point. The Association took over the existing debt of the Caledonian Club in return for the equity in the property. The total debt was a sum of approximately $100 000 that was to paid over a ten year period. Under the agreement, the Association had no interest in the financial aspect of the Club's business and the Association would nominate two members to the Caledonian and Burns Society Committee. Do you remember the bagpipes?
The financial management of the Caledonian Club did not improve over the years that the Association was involved. This ultimately led to the Westpac Bank appointing receivers to the Club and the closure of the Caledonian Club. The Association continued to meet on the premises for some time until the sale of the complex to the Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Association. It should be recognised that the decision to purchase the interest in the Caledonian Club was an important factor in the financial security of our Association.
1998 saw the start of negotiations with the Eastern Suburbs Hockey Club and following meetings with them and the Brisbane City Council, we purchased the Club and leased O'Grady Park in 2000.
When the Association first affiliated with the Brisbane League it asked for equal delegation of two (2), the same as the Clubs, but this was rejected and the Association was allotted one (1) only. The Association agreed to this but only after lengthy meetings.
The first major dispute came in 1927 and hereunder is an extract from the 1928 BRL Annual Report.
Over the years, the Association has organised a Christmas Tree function for the wives and children of members and these have been held at various venues including Lone Pine, Mandalay, Bundaleer Park, the Australian Woolshed, Scarborough, Horizon Park, Wet n' Wild and the Tallebudgera Fitness Camp.
Races for children in their age groups, throwing the broom for women and the Referees 100 Yard Championship were always held. Football matches against Toowoomba Referees for the Bulimba Cup and cricket games against Rockhampton Referees in Brisbane and Rockhampton always held great interest.
The annual after-season smoko for referees only was until 1967 at such places as the Hamilton Town Hall, Bulimba and Kangaroo Point Schools of Arts, Newmarket Memorial Hall, and Kurilpa Hall at West End.
Referees wives were entertained with Theatre Parties at His/Her Majesties Theatre and Old Timer dances at the Railway Institute Hall - Edward Street.
The Annual Dinner Dance was introduced in 1968 for the wives and girlfriends of referees and over the years these have been held at various venues around Brisbane including most District League Clubs, the Broncos Leagues Club, Parkroyal, Gabba Greyhound Club and the Italian Club.
These events were organised by the Social Committee under the chairmanship of the following:
D Brazil, I Hannam, A McGrath, P Rogers, R Clough, I Irwin, P Nolan, R Seagrott, J Cox, F Jacobson, R Nunn, I Spain, M Flanagan, A Long, M Nugent, I Wallace, E Garvey, L Maher, G Ozanne, R Wise, P Handy, N Martin.
R Eve and L Jacobson served the Association for over 50 years with L Jacobson awarded OAM in 1990 for services to Rugby League.
We have an annual exchange system with Auckland Referees' Association (NZ) where members of each Association experience the game of rugby league in a different environment in alternate years.
C Wright represented Queensland and also was State Captain.
E Harris represented Queensland and played for Leeds (ENG)
T Mander - Referee (NRL)
D Manson and E Ward - Referee (ARL)
The following members have had appointments to the ARL or NRL:Tim Mander, David Manson, Eddie Ward, Tony Maksoud, Davis Goener, Peter Murray, Jim Cox, Kerry Gray, Shane Woodward, Robert Irwin, Darren McKenzie, Adam Neale.
The make up of this board each year has caused more upheaval within the Association than any other section of Rugby League.
One would think that this could not be possible, due to over the seasons more than sixty (60) members of the Association have been elected to the Board.
It has been elected on the basis of all members were from the Referees, or on the basis of three (3) from the Clubs and two (2) from the Referees, and in some cases all members appointed by the League.
After the 1999 season, a Committee was formed to look into the process of appointing Referees. The result was a new system for the year 2000 where referees are viewed by assessors, who send reports back to the Primary Allocator and the Secondary Allocator for consideration prior to the next allocation of matches.
A copy of the Assessor's report is given to the referee and another copy is forwarded to the Coaching and Development Co-ordinator for use in preparation of lectures and the resolution of disputed assessments.
An Administrative Officer was also appointed to allocate the grounds at which the assessors would attend and to keep records of all assessments of referees and touch judges.
The other major item to the restructure was a change in terminology to allocation.
In 1983, the Management Committee restructured several of its Sub-Committees including the Examination and Training Committee that was under Management Committee control. The first Director was Bob Ward. Two of the requirements for Director were that he must have Senior refereeing experience and that he would be non-active. Bob set up this Committee which was a tremendous effort in itself. During this year, unforseen resignations occurred and worthy replacements were hard to find e.g. lecturer and trainer.
In 1984, Les Sainsbury became Director and the Board was expanded. The Examination Board became a sub-committee with Harry Dearness at the helm and a Cadet and New Officers Committee was added. Guest lecturers were invited and were appreciated by the members. This was the year when parameters were set. The Board in conjunction with the Appointment Board and Senior referees made refereeing policy and implemented the same.
In 1985, the Management Committee introduced compulsory training and meeting attendance, which was a step in the right direction.
In 1993, it was time for a change and Allan Waters became Director. Allan and his Committee introduced a more flexible refereeing policy and many referees took the advantage of this, though as Allan said "some couldn't adapt to the change" A refereeing manual was prepared which showed many of the aspects of refereeing and what the Association expected of young referees.
Harry Dearness became the Coaching & Development Co-ordinator in 1995 as he was the Divisional Referees' Co-ordinator to the South East Division. This was a year of great changes and implementations. Level 1 was introduced and controlled by our Association and Level 2 was introduced later that year. Harry endeavoured to restructure the training program and reintroduce a structured program. Harry met opposition and not enough co-operation.
In 1996, the Divisional Co-ordinator position changed. The Q.R.L. appointed the President of our Association to be the Co-ordinator. Thus we lost a lot of continuity and control of our training of referees.
In 1997, David Manson became the Coaching & Development Co-ordinator and a new approach was taken. The training was conducted by one of our own referees who got back to on-field requirements. The lectures also endeavoured to revert to the revision of laws of the game, and again group discussions and reaching a consensus evolved. The Development was again carried out by one of our own referees who set a high standard for referees in Level 1 and Level 2.
Bob Ward led the Coaching & Development Committee in 1998. Bob again advocated smaller discussion groups and suggested that lecture nights should be on a Wednesday night.
David Manson took up the reins once more in 2000. David continued to reinforce that vital aspect of refereeing, laws of the game, and brought with him a wealth of practical experience.
It is necessary that the Brisbane Referees' Association continue to support the Coaching & Development of referees and once again introduce basic policy in conjunction with the support from the Appointment Boards. Referees who learn, implement, adjudicate and act will take the next step. Our Association has a wealth of knowledgeable and experienced referees.
It is a tribute to the hard work and foresight of many members and supporters of the Association over its 75-year history that our Association now stands as a financially secure body with its own home and facilities dedicated to ensuring that the best quality referees possible are made available to the Rugby League players of Brisbane.
As Treasurer for 15 years up to 2000, I was in the fortunate position of being able to see behind the scenes what makes an Association such as ours 'tick' financially. For the first 50 years of the Association's existence, outside facilities were relied upon for meetings and training. This all changed in the late 1970's when the Association purchased a half-share in the Caledonian Club premises at Kangaroo Point. This solved the meeting dilemma, and in the early 1980's a lease was taken out on nearby Tristram Park as a training home.
The acquisition of these facilities coincided with perhaps the rosiest period the Association has enjoyed from a financial perspective. These were, from a sporting perspective, the halcyon days of lucrative cigarette sponsorship with Winfield being the Association's major sponsor, contributing sums far in excess of what are now available. Other sponsors such as NQX, XXXX and Coca Cola Bottlers were heavily involved as the Brisbane competition enjoyed great popularity and media coverage, pre the introduction of the Broncos - finding room on our jerseys - and managing the different ones for different leagues were some of the challenges of those days! Following the birth of the Broncos in the late 80's and the banning of cigarette sponsorship, external revenue became much harder to find. The last of the major sponsors of the Association was CSR Readymix in the late 80s. Since that time the Association has had a great relationship with many smaller sponsors who have contributed much in terms of cash, products and services, through to our current sponsors: Bess Concrete, ASICS, Monoset Printers and Queensland Vehicle Warranty Network.
In the past 25 years the Association has been in the fortunate position of being able to just act as an "agent" for the various Leagues we cover, passing all refereeing fees on to members. Whilst a levy has been in place to primarily cover the cost of the Annual Dinner, all benefits of the Association have had to be funded from the sponsorships mentioned above plus other fundraising activities such as Doubles, Raffles and League and Government Grants. Benefits have included subsidization of refereeing gear, the annual exchange with Auckland Referees, subsidization of appointment committees, various social functions such as the annual Christmas Tree, and all the training and development activities.
Unfortunately many organizations involved with Rugby League in Brisbane have faded from the scene, many because of financial problems - my experience has been that members of our Association have always understood the need for good financial management to avoid such a fate. This was particularly obvious to me in the first few years I was Treasurer when we were able to use the Sponsorship money to build up reserves for the more difficult years since. Virtually without exception our "financial" relationship with all the Leagues we cover has been excellent (although there certainly have been some tough negotiations at times), but there seems to have been, from all sides, "give and take" at appropriate times and a willingness to ensure that referees were, and are, adequately rewarded for their efforts given the financial conditions of the day.
The Association is starting to experience a change in the nature of its income, with O'Grady Park starting to pay its way through hire to outside bodies, and the introduction of a larger number of smaller sponsors. Having one's own home is a large financial responsibility - but the example of the last 75 years shows that this is a responsibility the Association's members understand, and are more than capable of bearing.