Bevan Sisson: Rugby referees need compensation not criticism

As the club season reaches the pointy end of the competition for both Metro and Country, I headed out to the grounds to watch some footy.

While watching an enjoyable game I heard a passionate supporter yell to the ref: “How much did they pay you? Open your eyes!”.

That got me thinking. Why don’t we pay them?

We can’t do much for his perceived lack of vision but we can look at how we support our unsung heroes of the footy field.

Every weekend, men and women head out to the park and endure the mutterings and sometimes abusive behaviour from the sidelines.

For most referees it’s not just a single game on the day, they may go from refereeing at grade or age group, then need to rush to the next game to be an assistant referee, subs controller or assist in other areas.

All this can take up the best part of the day, and for no compensation.

Referees are not running out there with the expectation of payment. They are doing it for the love of the game.

But a small amount of financial support to show some appreciation would be a great start to what can be a challenging day out.

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Implementing this could work a number of ways – for example, Queensland have a match day referee fee attached to their playing subs for the year.

I know the bane of every team manager’s year is getting subs out of players and increasing them slightly may add to this.

In Christchurch, the subs pay for coaching, playing gear and occasionally a bite to eat after Thursday training.

The subs remain cheap and to include a referee match fee for half the cost of an after-match drink seems good value.

European clubs have a different version where the home team pays for the referees on the day.

Payment figures could be $50 for the main referee and $25 for the assistants.

If you had your standard 22 players on game day, that’s roughly $4.50 per player, only when you are playing at home.

A referee who had officiated a Div 2 game and then was an assistant for a senior game could finish the afternoon with $75 which would help ease some of the pressures of the day.

It would take quite a shift in perception from players, clubs and supporters knowing there is now compensation paid and it would create a different expectation, but let’s be honest, they get a hard time anyway and it’s their time that is being compensated not the performance.

So while the All Blacks are playing and we are between Super Rugby and NPC/FPC, head out to a club game and if you pass one of the officials, give them a word of thanks, not criticism.