Quote Originally Posted by Whistler Supporter View Post
The latest I have heard is that an appeal by the Referees Department to referees to make themselves available on Sunday has had some success. At least 3 of the 5 grounds originally without referees are now likely to get them. I would think that no-one in the Referee Department would like even one ground going without refs.
I really think these young referees are being set up to fail by Northern, so it’s unsurprising that availability is an issue. There was an U15 kid put in the centre of an U15 game on the weekend who had played against one of the teams 7 days earlier & the other team 18 days earlier. That puts a 14/15 year old kid in a very difficult situation, especially when there’s nothing put in place by means of support such as an older/more experienced person as an AR or a referee coach/mentor.

This goes further than zero tolerance. This goes to setting up a framework for referees that provides an adequate level of support and training, just like any other workplace.