Referees travel to various grounds these days with little trouble; but in the early days, many of the then Clubs had a bad habit of chasing Referees home armed with palings pulled from the fences. For protection, Eric Campbell, always carried a water pistol with him and Les Sharp, a Prison Warden, a truncheon.
The early grounds were New Farm Park, Albion Flats, Langlands Park, Lang Park Exhibition No's 1 & 2, Gilbert Park, Thompson Estate, Pinkenba Oval, Davies Park, Desham Park, Nundah Oval, Bulimba Park, Moore Park No.1, Toowong Park, Kalinga Park and Ballymore Park.
The Queensland Rugby League abolished grading in 1949 and it was immediately taken up by the Brisbane League in that year, against the wishes of the Association. Under this system only referees who were graded were appointed to the senior games and could never be relegated to a lower grade and no other referee could be upgraded to a senior game.
Each year the Association would nominate members for grading out of which the Brisbane League would select five members.
With the submission of names the Management Committee would approach the league to abolish the system. These approaches always fell on deaf ears; until 1969 when the League abolished the system.
Fees for A Grade in 1927 were regulated at 7 Shillings 6 Pence (75 cents) per game by 1929 were reduced to 1 Shilling 6 Pence (15 cents) per game and due to the Depression in 1931 to nil.
Payments were restored in 1934 to 6 Pence (5 cents) per game of which 3 Pence (2 cents) was donated to the Association funds.
World War II broke out in September 1940 but did not affect Australian Sport until 1942 when Japan came into the war by attacking the USA. In 1942 there were 18 members but the numbers reduced to eight active referees by 1944.
The BRL suspended the Premiership in 1942 and the competition became the Liberty Cup and the Victory Cup and no changes were made from 1942-1944.
Fees were restored in 1945 and by 1957 had risen to 1 Pound ($2) then to 1 Pound 5 Shillings ($2.50) and so increased from there to the present payments.
Presently, referee fees range from $21 for an Under 13 match to $150 for a Queensland Cup fixture. Touch Judging fees range from $10 to $50 for the same range of grades.
Due to the difficulty with administering travelling fees, the Association has not paid additional fees for members travelling to outlying grounds for a number of years.
In June last year the question of declaring bonuses for Referees officiating at intercity games, on the same lines as the players chosen for these fixtures, was discussed in delegate meeting, consequent on a motion moved and seconded by the then delegates of the QRL Referees Association. It was conceded that the star referee was entitled to these bonuses on the same basis as the players, and decision was made accordingly. Cheques followed in this connection, but were never paid to the individual by the Association; in fact were returned to the League at one time. With the formation of the Brisbane Referees Association, the cheques were again forwarded to the QRL Referees Association, to finalise the matter, but were returned along with a letter authorising the delegates of the BRL Referees Association to move the rescission of the minute of June 1926. The motion along these lines, however, was defeated, whilst in the meantime, the constitution of the Referees Association had been accepted, with the exception of the two clauses dealing with the payment of Referees and Association Board. At a subsequent meeting of the Referees Association, however, the following resolution was carried:- "That this Association refuses to alter its Constitution dealing with payment of referees officiating in intercity games, and demands that all money be paid to the Association, and further that all members of the Association will be unavailable for further BRL matches until this be acceded to." The receipt of this demand and threat brought the following recommendation by the Management Committee to the general body of delegates, which was adopted: "That the Referees Association be found guilty of misconduct under the provisions of Clause II (e) of the Constitution, and that in default of rescission of motion, contained in letter of 14th June, and withdrawal of that letter by Tuesday 21st June, by 12 noon, the Referees Association be disqualified body of this League."
The Referees then advised as follows: "We adhere to our original motion, and further, we do not supply referees at any Leagues affiliated with the BRL until this matter be satisfactorily settled." This meant that the Juniors also came under the threat, and with the automatic disqualification of the Referees Association your League was compelled to form a new body.
In response to advertisements in the daily Press, some twenty odd referees and old players offered their services, and a fresh Constitution was drawn up placing the new body under they direct control of your League. A scale of bonuses to be paid referees for intercity, senior club, linesmen, and junior games, was also drawn up. The services of Mr L Kearney were enlisted to coach the referees. An improved standard of refereeing was the result, and your Committee look forward to promoting even a higher standard among these officials in the coming season.
As a result of the above, the BRL took direct control of the Association endorsed a new constitution under which any decisions made by referees had to be endorsed by the BRL.
This system remained for the years 1927 and 1928. In 1928 the then Secretary of the Queensland Rugby Leagues, Harry Sunderland tried desperately to convince the Association to return the to QRL field because of the English Tour that season. His efforts failed and only one member, Cecil Broadfoot left, joined the Toowoomba Association and refereed the Test Match in Brisbane.
The year 1929 saw the BRL vote on a motion to revert back to Rugby Union, Stan Russell voted against this and one other delegate abstained. After the meeting, Stan then got together Harold Horder the Referees Secretary, Vic Jensen BRL Vice President and others held a meeting, went to the BRL with a proposal and had the motion defeated.
1937 saw the members object to the Appointment Board and their decisions. All members made themselves unavailable for one week. Two members of the board Messrs Costello and Pedrazzini refereed the two "A" Grades at the Exhibition Ground. The result being that the members made themselves unavailable again the next week.
A solution was found by inserting the following amendment to Clause 15 of the Constitution and Rules:-
The Referees Appointment Board for the season shall consist of five members, being two from the Referees and two from the BRL with an Independent Chairman, who shall be selected by the BRL from a panel of six non-active Referees or persons not with active club interests submitted by the Referees' Association.
The new board elected was S G Schafer (Independent Chairman), S A Talbot and P Scott Jnr (from the BRL) and E A Crawford and A Matzdorf (from the Referees). The decisions of this board were final.
During a fixture game at the Brisbane Cricket Ground in 1956, Referee C Wright dismissed players A Watson and P Hall from the field of play; the first named player refusing to leave the field and the second for disputing the decision. Both players faced Judiciary and were fined. The members then made themselves unavailable the following week. The league advertised for persons to referee their round and only one club, Fortitude Valley refused to play under what was termed "Scab Referees". The Club lost its points in Junior Grade and thus lost the Premiership. No points were taken off any "A" Grade Team.
A threated strike in 1960 was averted when the referees again objected to the Appointment Board by passing a notice of No Confidence in the three members of the board from the BRL but excepting the two Referees' Association members Les Sharp and Ian Marr.
The League acted quickly by meeting the Management Committee and the matter was settled and the Board reduced to three members - two from the League and one from the Referees' Association.
The next dispute occurred in 1968 when Referee D Coogan dismissed player B Muir from the field at Lang Park. Muir was charged on three counts:
The Judiciary suspended the player for twelve (12) months. The Association's reaction was to refuse to referee any game in which this player took part, once his suspension had been served. The decision was never carried out in Brisbane fixtures, but was applied to QRL trial games. On his return to Brisbane the ban was lifted.
The dispute of 1986 was again over the Appointment Board when the BRL rejected one of the nominees of the Association and replaced the nominee with a member rejected by the Association without any reference to the Association.
The Management Committee met with the BRL Board of Directors to no avail and the appointment stood. The Association appealed to the QRL but this was dismissed and they arranged a meeting attended by Chairman and General Manager (QRL); Chairman and Executive Officer (BRL); and President and Secretary (BRL Referees). As a result a Board was elected consisting of G Crouch (Independent Chairman); R Daley, A Delandelles, A McGrath and R Wise (Referees' Association), three temporary members and one proxy.
The question recently raised in a copy of the "Rugby League News" as to the relative merits of a referee who adopted a stringent and literal interpretation of the laws of the game, as compared with one whose lenient interpretations amounted almost to allowing players an open go, certainly raises some interesting argument, and your editor has invited answers to the question of which referee would be right.
If I may be allowed to express my humble opinion, I would say neither, and, in the hope of erasing any illusions that might exist in the minds of referees as a result of the controversy, I add the following in explanation:
Let us first take the example of the referee who adopts the "Nelson's eye" outlook in his refereeing, and who takes the view that, if he stops all the breaches, he will spoil the game. In the public interest, his is a very laudable view, but the duties of a referee are manifold, and, while they include that of swinging the game along in spectacular fashion, they do not allow him to do this to the exclusion of a correct application of the laws as laid down. After all, this game of Rugby League should be played as Rugby League, and should not be turned into something resembling a game of "Red Rover", in the interests of continuity.
But, if the alternative is the referee who, in conscientious endeavour to conduct his game strictly in accordance with the laid-down laws and who, as a result, jars the even tenor of the game, and, at the same time, irritates both players and public by continuous whistling, is it not then better to have our game a la Red Rover? Perhaps it would be, but, if it is not necessary to have either, why raise the question?
Actually, the fact that our present-day refereeing gave a certain journalist an opportunity to raise the question, seems to me to indicate a deterioration in the standard of refereeing, and here's the reason: An examination of the failings of both the referees exemplified reveals that neither has a proper understanding of the Advantage law. Now, the Advantage law has correctly been referred to as the game's greatest rule. It covers a multitude, and no referee can ever expect to attain any degree of efficiency, without having become an adept at its administration.
Today, we hear and read much in condemnation of scrum illegalities, but very, very often, those who criticise the scrums would be less severe if they were fully conscious of the extent to which the Advantage law can be applied in these scrums. I do not wish to be misunderstood here, by suggesting that our scrum refereeing, at the present time, is not open to much improvement, but I do say that the referee who gets proper control of his forwards early in the scrum, and who applies the Advantage law to the extent that he can do in his scrums, will encounter little of the difficulties that so frequently spoil the games of those who are unable to properly control them.
The same thing applies to play the game rucks, off-side breaches, in-goal breaches, knock-ons and forward passes. None of these phases of the laws can be properly applied without correct application of the Advantage law, and so, I say, the question asked by your editor, "What is the referee to do?" should be answered this way: "It is up to the referee."
A Laurie Kearney today would not leave room for the question.
Before the advent of the Level 1 programme, new referees would be handed a Rule Book and told to learn it and come back when he is ready to take the exam.
In 1994, the National Referee Accreditation Scheme piloted a Level 1 Referees Course in a similar format to the Level 1 Coaching Course.
In 1995, the Australian Rugby League sought, and was granted the National Officiating Program approval of its National Refereeing Accreditation Scheme.
Associations were given the 1995 and 1996 seasons to translate all referees who held their State qualification to the equivalent Level 2 standing. From the beginning of the 1997 season, all Levels of Accreditation can only be gained through direct involvement in the appropriate NRAS Course.
It is proposed that there will be five Levels of refereeing within the NRAS but to date only three Levels have been documented. New persons to refereeing start as Preliminary Referees before moving through the Level 1 and Level 2 courses. The Level 3 program is a further developmental programme for referees aspiring to the higher levels of the game.
The minimum age to be a Referee is 14 years. The Association still conducts lectures for Referees. These lectures are currently co-ordinated by the appointed Coaching & Development Co-ordinator and presented by members of the Coaching & Development Committee.
The Association also appoints a Supervisor who guides members participating in the Level 1 and Level 2 programmes through the nationally approved courses with support from senior members of the Association and the Coaching & Development Committee.