LEIGH LEOPARDS head coach Adrian Lam has called for greater investment into refereeing as he gives his own opinion on the new Super League broadcast deal.
Earlier in the week, Super League announced that a new three-year deal had been struck with Sky Sports, with video referees at every game going forward in 2024.
For Lam, it is brilliant news for rugby league.
“It is massive news for the sport, I think the great thing about rugby league is it gives people an opportunity to have a routine in supporting their team each week,” Lam said.
“Financially it can only benefit us and take our game to the next level and then sponsorship etc comes on the back of it.
“I’m really excited where Super League is heading. For our club, it is certainly a massive boost and I think we have played our part in terms of the entertainment side of things.
“I think Derek (Leigh owner Derek Beaumont) has led the way for our club, you come to our game and it’s an event and people look forward to doing that. I’m very grateful what is happening with the TV deal.
“Whatever makes our game better and get the results right more often, it will suit us down to a tee. I think there would have been results that might ave been different with it but we need to look forward.”
In terms of impacting the referees, Lam has called for the officiating system to be made full-time for the greater good.
“I think the referees we have got are great, but I think we need to invest into officials and refereeing, in the sense of giving younger players the chance to become referees.
“We need to ensure there is a bit of a pathway for them and an area where we can make referees better through a full-time program.
“That’s not been critical of the referees, in the NRL and all professional organisation, your whole refereeing staff should be full-time. You get eight hours of education and are able to go to the next level with it. It’s an area where we need to invest.
“If we can take it to the next level supported by the video referee, it can only help our game.”
