BEING a referee is no easy feat.
At the heart of the rugby league field, the man in the middle is scrutinised by players, coaches, other officials and fans – there is no hiding away from that.
And to make matters even more difficult, sometimes there are ‘difficult’ players to deal with on the field.
For Super League referee Aaron Moore, the tactic to deal with such difficult players varies from situation to situation.
“Every player is different, it’s just about finding the best way to approach that player,” Moore told League Express.
“I like to think that as a referee I try and be myself and just be honest as well with that player to get the best out of them.
“Some might not want to speak to you and you might think you need to leave them alone. Then there are others that are difficult that you can try and speak to and try and get a good conversation with them to talk them round a bit really to how you have seen the incident.
“We are not going to get everything right but no one wants to get the decision right more than us.
“Building the relationship between players and referees is massive. In the past some players have seen referees as a headteacher-style person thinking ‘we can’t speak tom them’.
“I think now you see we talk to players and try and have a laugh with them. We are all human and we all love rugby league. We want to see a good game and a flowing game. We don’t want chaos.
“I think we try and be as normal as possible, but it depends on the game. If the game is flowing you can be more relaxed but if it’s a tense one you have to roll your sleeves up a bit more.”
Moore, whose brother Liam also officiates in Super League, believes that bringing in new referees is a difficult process.
“For me, I started refereeing when I was 16 and I was playing academy rugby at Salford. That’s what it was for me, it was learning the rules more at first.
“My brother Liam was refereeing and said ‘why don’t you give it a go? I say to people now, just give it a go and go out on courses and see how it feels. You might like it or not.
“It’s about just trying to get people out on courses to give it a go and see what they think, hopefully then they go into refereeing.
“It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, people might not want to be that when they are younger but we need to try and change people’s perceptions at a young age then hopefully we can strive for that.”