THERE will be eight full-time officials refereeing in Super League in 2023 alongside three development match officials.
Dave Elliott, the current Head of Match Officials following the standing down of Steve Ganson, explained the refereeing situation going into the 2023 season.
“We have eight full-time match officials, but we are looking to increase that number,” Elliott said.
“We also have three development match officials who train with us. They are all in full-time education who train with the guys on a weekly basis, learning the trade.
“There is a select group of about 26-28 which is a combination of match officials who sit under the full-time squad. They get access to a lot of things that we do, and they will get coaching throughout the weeks.”
With the departure of James Child and the part-time role of Robert Hicks, those eight full-time referees are Tom Grant, Marcus Griffiths, Chris Kendall, Liam Moore, Liam Rush, Jack Smith, Ben Thaler and Joe Vella.
However, there are now 366 newly-qualified match officials which is brilliant news for the sport, with Elliott also revealing that the number of match officials now totals over 500.
