The South Otago refereeing stalwart has been named the Otago rugby volunteer of the year.
Carruthers received the Ray Byrne Memorial Cup from Warren Kearney, the Otago union’s community rugby manager, in Balclutha this week, and reflected on the age-old reason for trading in the boots for a whistle.
"You play the game and you tend to know the rules a bit better than the referees most of the time," he said with a wry smile.
Carruthers was 40 when he decided his playing days were done and he would do a couple of years as a touch judge.
He has now been a member of the Otago Rugby Referees Association for over 30 years.
Apart from the enjoyment of the role, and the camaraderie he built with players and fellow referees, there was an element of duty involved as South Otago, like many areas, dealt with a shortage of people keen to pick up a whistle.
"I jokingly say sometimes we could have had our meetings in a telephone box.
"But people do understand we need referees."
Carruthers enjoyed watching young players in the region progress through the ranks and all the way to premier grades.
A "highlight" of his time in the role was the day he refereed a game at South Otago High School, immediately had to do another game to fill in for a colleague, scooted down to Milton to do a third game, and came back - with a slight delay while the local constabulary suggested he did not need to be hurrying - to be touch judge for a premier game.
Kearney said Carruthers had been a "tireless" volunteer in refereeing, running the touch and, more recently, handling referee appointments in South Otago.
"Wayne has also been a regular support person for newer and younger referees where he is often seen running touch for them and providing valuable guidance in their early development," Kearney said.
"Otago Rugby and the wider Otago community would like to thank Wayne, for his contribution to our game, and his wife Jillian and kids, who no doubt had many Saturdays without Wayne about.
"Without people like Wayne, the game we love simply couldn’t go ahead."
