POD PLAYON TRIAL

The speaker discusses their experience as a rugby referee and the opportunities it provides. They mention the importance of understanding the referee's process and thinking during games. They also highlight the benefits of refereeing in smaller communities and the sense of community it brings. The speaker then talks about their recent experiences, including learning the back office of Central West Referee and their envy of watching Aqua Rugby. They describe Aqua Rugby as a fast-paced game played on a pontoon with artificial grass and mention the challenges of wet balls and tight-fitting gear. They express their enjoyment of Junior 7's rugby and the learning opportunities it provides for referees. The speaker concludes by discussing the potential of Aqua Rugby expanding to different locations, such as Fiji. oh okay cool alrighty guys this is the first time we're testing this out so what was the reason why we did this pod I think it was because there was so much rugby pods it's like overwhelming yeah I've always played it for so long and then was actually like oh let me try refereeing because my body is perfectly well got a few concussions and it's like yeah and then like just give it a go and like you said like there's opportunities through refereeing to get the whole other side of the game which I think people don't realize and I think when you're sitting on the sideline you're just very reactive to what the referee is doing and I think the whole point of this is that we'll be looking at games but not being too critical about what the referee did the more the process and what they were thinking about is really key it is I think that's another reason why I loved it so much yeah yeah extremely fortunate to be able to do that I'm not talking about that I'm talking about before that when I was just doing bush footy and I love bush footy you know travelling out to Forbes on a Saturday to ref my first first grade game and I got home on Tuesday great people and had a ball and and you know that some of the opportunities there at Forbes I don't think people realize how cool refereeing can be yeah and you're part of a community I think by someone told me like your player number 31 so you shouldn't yeah shouldn't be but yeah I was like am I am I a sub I love their numbers and I think it's really important for people to realize and day to day is fun and as much as they've been a bit of a highlight on referee abuse and even some of our fellow referees giving us grief at times and I think in practice we need to reinvigorate and remind people how cool it can be and not everyone's going to be able to keep playing for forever I broke my leg four years in a row and started refereeing after that and my involvement with rugby I wouldn't change it for quids I had so much fun doing what I was doing yes I think I would have preferred to play but that doesn't mean that what I did wasn't fun I think it's important for us to holla at that and for our tribe as well, our tribe of referees, a full group of people Sweet. What have you been up to this past week with refereeing, Piercy? My refereeing experience this week has been everything but exciting. I was so jealous watching the aqua rugby on the weekend go on and I've been doing appointments and learning how to drive the back office of Central West Referee, which someone's got to do and yeah someone has to do the appointments believe it or not like a few days before your actual match there's people in the background running around I put 20 hours in it this week which is my ineptitude as much as anything but I needed to understand how that works so that we can do that out here and it's been fun speaking to a lot of the referees just letting them know that I'm doing it, wondering what they're trying to achieve with a year and just, I've spoken to 20 refs I've never met before about what they're trying to do with their refereeing so that's pretty cool I guess you have your goals, what you want to set out, how last year went, the things you want to develop in as well and each month you might have a focus Yeah and we can support them to do that too. What I've been trying to do, I actually can't get out of the paddock myself at the moment so I'm diving in and trying to help others achieve their goals which is fun Match Official Developer and Referee Admin extraordinaire who's doing a pretty poor job How about you, tell me about Aqua Rugby It was amazing, it was in Darling Harbour and it was on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday so I refed on the Friday and it was like lush weather, so bright and sunny which is perfect so Aqua Rugby it's a 30 metre by 30 metre like pontoon and it's like artificial grass so imagine that super hot and people are all barefoot by the way Ended up being pretty gross the first game, everyone had to tape their feet, everyone was wearing socks I don't know whether I've told you, I reffed Aqua Rugby version 1 back in Manly Oh yeah that's where I thought it was going to be, I thought I was heading to Manly It was really cool but the tone out that got peeled out was just gross Luckily there was all these lush Bondi lifeguards on the side where I was just like I think we need to sort out this first, it was in the first game I am old enough to have given up on fashion and I was the only one that bought a pair of, I don't even know what to call them, reed shoes Oh yeah, the little grips at the bottom So there was a few people looking longingly and jealously at my feet after they got out of the game and I don't know if it was fashionability or what The practicality of it took over And I think with the Aqua Rugby which I really enjoyed which is like the fast pace, it's 5 on 5 and you have 5 minutes or 6 minutes each side And there's like no scrums, no line outs, if you get nailed and thrown into the water you have someone running on from the sub because you're obviously that person stuck in the water It's a quick tap and go and I think people realise that as a player it's almost like doing a forwards drill where you're just picking and going over and over again I really like the fact that some of the players had to think on their feet and some of the refs had to think on their feet too Trying to find somewhere to stand so you don't get barrelled Oh yeah, I think especially with the men's because they're doing lots of picks and goes I can't normally stand and look at that offside line and check, check I'm standing like metres behind, plus it's so tiny anyway It's very dense to do though, you just ref on the vibe Yeah, and I think sometimes they took it really seriously like, miss, what about this? I'm like, it's fun guys, we're meant to be having fun I don't know whether I've told you this, my first game I reffed in Agrirobi was, I don't know what they called them, it was the rugby league guys And James Graham, a famous hothead, was playing in the team and I'd never met him But my first experience in Agrirobi was him yelling at me about something and I was like, this is a big school, this actually doesn't matter Yeah it doesn't He was just bringing that vibe to it and it was so much fun, straight off the game, he's a really good fella, just like what we saw on the footy We had so much fun and just the high pace, it's got everything about rugby that we love Yeah Except the set pieces, but we see enough of them on the rest of the footy, it was a great little take on it, I think Jimmy's on to something there It is a very good spectacle Yeah, and I think with, because obviously the ball gets really wet because you're diving in the water and so on So like the knock-ons, I'm just like playing advantage constantly Yeah, pretty impressive Yeah That was really cool, and of course the skin tight gear that everyone has to wear Yeah they were like rashies Some of them, but it's not great for, I remember watching Laurie Weekes who was in the Budgie Smuggler team Woo The big heavy props, yeah we love the Budgie Smugglers, big heavy props, those guys probably need to wear loose fitting props Love you Laurie But some of the other guys was really cool to watch Yeah, no I agree And then, try and think what else, oh on Thursday On Thursday Just to finish up the aqua rugby Oh yeah I saw a post this morning from Jimmy the Lord of Aqua Rugby, saying where would you like to go to next week Christchurch Harbour, San Francisco, there was a couple of really, Holland, there was a couple of really cool I wonder if they could do it somewhere in England, like where Probably not, it's too cold there Yeah, I wouldn't want to be jumping to the Thames either, if that's like the only body of water I can think about Mexico is an option, Fiji, Fiji was my pick That would be amazing Yeah They would get really into it as well Yeah I think they would just be like, they play barefoot as well Yeah, all of my rugby friends have just made for rugby, and playing with water with their enormous hands and an incredible group on the ball would come into it's own, I think it would be awesome Yeah That's my vote Jimmy I vote for Fiji as well And then, what else did, I also did some Junior 7's, which was really fun, I think it's also really important, especially when you're early on in reffing, I found Juniors really good to practice your positioning, also it's good for game management as well, because you get lots of questions Yeah, it's great for game management, and as a match official developer, formerly known as a referee coach, I think there is no better crucible to put a new referee in, where there's probably less repercussions if they stuff something up But the blowtorch of how and when to play advantage, the blowtorch of how to speak to people quickly, you just get to do it again and again, like some of the 7's I reffed when I was coming through, I was doing 20 games a day Yeah, that's what I mean, you learn so quickly, and also I was stuck on the same pitch the entire day, so I'm getting the same teams, and I think they knew how I reffed, how I composed myself, and what I want to see, so throughout the game they just knew what to do and what to expect It's always those first few matches when they're just not really sure, I think especially at Juniors, you either get hit and miss, I guess, of what, like, you might have the referee's first ever game, or some people that might have done a, take up a whistle course, and they're just doing it for fun to help out, so yeah, it's really interesting to see them I think it's a great opportunity, and I've always loved 7's rugby, I think I just love the game, it's so fast Some of our purest footies played on the 7's field, and it's a shame that we don't get to see as much of it as what we'd like, it's very hard to watch all the 7's because there's so many different places to try and grab it That is awesome, we were down in Kiama there a few weeks ago I love Kiama, you have a rugby pitch next to a beach, which is just mind-blowing Yeah, you can finish your game and go jump in the ocean, like 50 metres away, it's a pretty special spot Also, I feel like you ref the refs differently for 7's, obviously decisions are a lot faster, less so much, I don't really play advantage unless I know in the next phase or two, like, they will be scoring a try as well Less time, I say, to mess up as a ref as well, there's like 80 minutes, 14 minutes as well, with your decisions I think some of the consequences of poor decisions, you get away with more calibre right at the end when things are tight, you get away with less, the scrutiny gets really, really, really quickly at the end It's a really good crucible, I think, as a referee, to test yourself No, I totally agree I have a little bit of gossip that I love gossip, gossip corner! One of our colleagues that was refereeing with us down at Clamour, and this definitely can't go to air in terms of his name, so I'm going to leave that unsaid Refred the first round down there, and it was probably a bit of a spray from the sideline, and may have in fact jumped the fence and shat in front of the guy, and he's in a little bit of hot water for it now I have been told that there will be a judicial hearing for the referee who has gone and picked a fight with a player in the crowd, and there is a chance I may sit on that, and there is a chance that instead of a sanction, he may get a gold star So, it's a really interesting one I think it's worth bringing up, because obviously it wasn't like last week, there's someone for referee abuse and other things as well, like people are starting to get accounted for I think the fine was $1000 We should definitely be able to have some online referee abuse at some stage, because I did see that I'd be quite interested to see how it goes, is it really formal, like in law, do they have a judge, and then you have someone coming up on each side, and then you're the lawyer, are you the accountant lawyer I think he'll have lawyers with us Because obviously you have to have the book, like law point I think the lawyer's issues, they'll shout and hit people, but in practice there's a whole lot of things that have gone wrong at that game that could have been stopped before that point, and no one supported our dear friend the referee to that point So, really I think whatever happens beyond there, we can forgive someone who's copping a golf ball abuse for some erratic behaviour I don't know the details of how erratic that got, whether there was anything physical I feel the pain, some days you do just want to jump the fence and ask them, why do you feel it's okay to yell at me like that I feel like I wanted to bring up on this pod as well, something where refs unfiltered, so what you actually want to say to players, a lot of them involve swearing I feel like that might be a question we can ask any of our guests Yeah, and they have to record themselves and what they would really want to say in situations Now that you've had a chance to think about it, what would you have loved to have said back? Yeah I reckon that's awesome Interesting, I'll have to tell you the guy's name when we're up there I'm actually quite excited I guess Because yeah, Kayama was quite full on as well, I remember that There's a lot going on down there, it's a great tournament, it's been running a long time They win a lot of money as well, the players, eh? And then as a referee Yeah, and then with the, I'll just say that was a halftime show, that was Grenfell? Grenfell Grenfell, yeah Yeah The person who did the backflip I ended up finding in the pub later on, because I was, anyway, there's a few guys I knew Yeah Yeah, and I was just so amazed, I'm like, I found the naked backflip guy That's awesome So you're, what are you standing tonight? Yes I am That's pretty exciting Yeah, it's the Waratahs versus the Brumbies, so semi-finals, and I'm ref number six If some people might not know, I call it the water bitch, but I basically run on the water for the referee And it's a very important role, actually, you need to make sure you have the right water temperature Maybe do they want powerade, how many times you need to go on Do they want, have they ever asked you to give them a keyword to refocus them as a referee? Oh It's a really good opportunity to I just hype them up a little bit, I'm like, good job, you're doing well Especially when they're like, obviously when, they've obviously just awarded a try And they're walking back and trying to compose themselves for the conversion And I'm just there, ready for them with the water And trying to, yeah, make sure that One of my best ever rugby memories, my first game at altitude in Brooklyn Tate, it's over 2000 metres I was reffing and 25 minutes in you really start to feel the pinch of altitude And I was just starting to get that sort of oxygen debt when the Sharks were attacking down a sideline And were last passed before scoring A guy called Jonny Nockley, who was the fastest guy in rugby that year Played for the Springboks, took an intercept And he took off I love intercepts 98 metres out Ryan Kankowski, Springboks number 8, took off after him Two of the best athletes to play for you, I reckon I just love seeing that, the one-on-one chase The shoulder-by-shoulder, or like, the chase Trying to keep up behind them, losing ground rapidly But we had a 100 metre sprint Kankowski dived and got his fingers in the strap of his shorts And was a metre and a half out And got dragged into in goal with me tailing in And it was just one of those moments Two big V8 engines Full speed up the field, watching this It was a thing of beauty Running beside it And then all of a sudden, I stopped and I thought Oh God, I can't breathe I actually have no oxygen in my system Does it like, your throat just got smaller? Yeah I'm thinking, this next breath Is going to either happen very shortly Or I'm going to fall over How can you blow your whistle? I managed to blow the whistle I was walking back to the line with the conversion I'm in trouble, I'm in real trouble And the poor, water bitch Came out to get in the water I couldn't even speak I literally couldn't hear what I'm doing It was hilarious And she's standing there Are you okay? Are you okay? Fuck Marlene was her name, I remember And how many minutes was that? Was that towards the end? Or you still had a lot to go? And you came good But it was my first time riffing And I had no idea what was happening to me Have I just run too quick? I came good I guess that's a test I guess that's a test Don't athletes do that in chambers? Don't they actually have the test? But you just got thrown into the deep end with that And it's funny I live at 900 metres above sea level So if I hadn't been living in Sydney at the time It would have been even worse again 900 does Oh, okay It climatised you too That's right, yeah Oh So it was a really funny interaction with number six Yeah She must have thought She probably thought you were about to pass out She knew what was going on too And I think with I think that's the understanding of like You have the referee If anything were to happen to you Then you have obviously AR1 Which is the assistant referee one It might have been Yarko Yarko? Yarko was on the side And Marius Janko was on the other That would have been the long-term world record Yeah, yeah It was such a good game That game was I think it was my first game in Africa If not, it was certainly the best game in Africa The Sharks were undefeated on top of the ladder Which was a great bit of time And the Cheetahs were the bottom They hadn't actually won a game for 15 months And they won I just love those type of stories Because then like If you just like If you think it's going to be easy to walk over And then like You just let your guard down And the players will find those gaps And like, yeah There was a guy called Henry Crusoe Who was Springbok's open side Who played that game And I was aware of him But I didn't realise how good he was He got picked for Springbok that day Coach Narkadrop, he knew it was coming too He told me, we're going to win this Don't write us off I love that He was a cranky old man I actually got along really well with Narkadrop It was a really cool game But that was definitely the highlight Those two big engines Screaming down the sideline Do you feel like before when you were Obviously like when you're preparing for matches You always look at where they are in the table Obviously like the jersey colours And you sort of like do your analysis Did you like I guess like in your head you're just like Oh I'm just going to go in like any other match Or you're just like I think it's really important to Especially with that one That one's like head versus like the low It's really important to go in and know the team's strengths Weaknesses Playing patterns Line out shape Step piece shape I think it's really important I think it's really important Not to however pre-judge or pre-ascertain Well yeah, that's what I was thinking Know how they're going to want to play Know how an opposition would want to stifle that But not make any pre-judgements on how that might roll out Because you can fall into a trap there Yeah, I think so Yeah It's very hard to just stay in the moment My threat was always to Try and get that research done early in the week Speak to both of the coaches Watch as much footage as I can get a hold of But make sure it's done by Wednesday Because the game's on the Saturday? Yeah Or Friday Yeah To get all that research and analysis done beforehand Because you want to know it But you don't want that to be front of mind I think it's really important just to keep the message simple in your mind About what your focuses are And play your game as a referee Yeah, yeah, no exactly So for me it was always I only ever had two or three things in front of mind And most of the time Get the tackle right Get the onside Have those pictures, right? Yeah Those were the usual three focus areas for me If you could win them You'd usually have a good game Sweet How about you? My focus ones? I think for me especially now Is just having those right pictures in my head And like, oh, if that picture's not in the right format Then something has gone wrong And someone needs to be given a word And I think because I'm a very visual person So sometimes for me Watching lots of videos and analysing that Is better for me So I can imagine Because rugby's very visual as well And I would say in terms of Yeah, I think it comes down to the number of hours of footy you've watched If you've watched more footy You're more likely to be good at it And then imagine yourself in situations Like visualising as well I think Something that when I watch the whistleblower Which I think I brought up to you one time Which I'm going to start doing Is that there's this quite funny bit in the whistleblower Where Agnes Gardner He is just on a rugby pitch on his own And he's just re-enacting a live match Basically But going through his processes Which I think whistleblower made it look really funny Because it had this funny little background music to it And it was almost like he was just talking to himself Because obviously there's no one else around him But I think when I told you I'd been reflected on it being like A funny video to actually being Oh, I can actually use this as part of my development I'm very fond of Gus I think he's a fantastic referee He was the young newbie when I was on the way out And I take great joy in seeing him do that Because I think that visualisation is such a key thing But when you visualise with your movements And you try and make it more and more realistic You're actually more likely to get it right Yeah, like you're turning Like this is the rec You're pointing at this You're turning I can remember vividly doing that As a part of warm-up routines in the game I feel like an idiot I must look like a complete tool But it is really powerful Trying to get the sight, the smell, the touch, the taste Of what that pre-game is going to look like Before you get there You're going to get it more and more often And I think especially with You could see in the video that he Is obviously setting up a line-out And then he's setting up his scrum And then going through his processes And what he would be saying as well So that when it comes to match day I guess the nerves as well maybe won't be as much Because he's been doing so much prep beforehand as well I think rugby refereeing is one of the more complex activities That you can take on Because you've got the physical demand You've got the mental demand But you've also got a really unique external pressure I think you're from 30 players on the pitch And possibly some crowd as well Coaches maybe For us to be able to Rehearse some of the parts of the feet The physical movement What you're pointing your eyes at Before we get there That becomes that unconscious competence So you don't even have to think about Where your feet are going You don't have to think about where your eyes are pointing You don't have to think about What gestures you're making to the players You can just stay in the moment But the more you can rehearse that other background stuff And make it second nature That you don't have to think about The better you're going to be as a ref Yep, positioning I'm still relatively early on In how I want to prep before a match as well I think I've reflected on what I did Out in Central West Refereeing Maybe what I did prepping It's sort of good And then sort of Yeah Certainly gets your eyes working Yeah so I think some people might not know I'm still a player So what would happen is I would be appointed to a rugby match As a referee I would play an entire match And then sometimes I wouldn't get time to do my regular process I couldn't brief the players I couldn't do my regular warm-up I couldn't get into like a mind frame Of like I'm about to referee I would still have my tape on On my legs The first time I saw you referee You had a ticket Lifting I had my lifting tape on And I think I like horsed down Some gummies Just to get some sugar in me And then was having to like I think I don't even remember my coin I was like rock, paper, scissors Let's figure this out So I think Now that I know that I can I don't have to play before a match now I'm like finally going to Create a proper process In my head I think that was also good I could just I guess wing it And not Think too much about it I've obviously just played a match So it's testing my fatigue Reflecting on how short you can Make your pre-match preparation I know there's some referees That could get it down to two minutes Like Tony Kaplan I can remember turning up To a ground in Melbourne The first game ever held At the Melbourne Stadium Yeah He got there three minutes Before kick-off And he got changed And he got on the field He That's mental And then there's some other referees Doesn't Doesn't warm up Maybe just There's a few like Leg tilts Little calf Raises I remember some of them Some of the guys got to the ground Three hours before And they had three hours Yeah Matched down to the minute And Either of them can work And You may have gathered that I'm a little bit of a shifter So The guys Took three hours It was pretty easy To get them off their rhythm And Oh yeah I've learned that really quickly Yeah As a ref six Like What you can Yeah Do I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I