I understand that and do see it but I also see three men reffing a game at some grounds and no refs at others.
Not something I had thought of but better to have one tired referee than none.Conversely, rostering 1 senior referee to officiate 3 games as the sole referee would be a big undertaking. Usually the better grade is last and they end up with a referee that’s already been moving around for 3 hours to officiate the game alone.
Just sighted, however, I have been told by one club secretary (though she is prone to lying about these sort of things) that referees are not to start a game unless there are duty officers present. I have never seen a game where duty officers are not present and a ref refuse to start.Interesting development with the duty officer section. Does the duty officer have to present to the referee or be sighted during play? As Sammy said, what if they are just watching from somewhere afar and there’s nothing untoward happening?
In the new area I was playing prior to injury, the referee has to get two names prior to the game of duty officers. One from each team. If they don’t get names, the game doesn’t start. So that’s what a Sydney association is doing...