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Harrigan, Raper sacked as NRL referees

Melanie Dinjaski, Yahoo!7 October 26, 2012, 4:16 pm

Long-standing rugby league referees Bill Harrigan and Stuart Raper have been sacked in an NRL refereeing restructure.

The restructuring is set to affect the leadership group within the refereeing department.

Australian Rugby League Commission Interim Chief Executive, Shane Mattiske, praised Raper and Harrigan's contribution to the game.

"Bill has made an incredible contribution to refereeing in a career that will forever stand out in the game’s record books," Mattiske said.

"He and Stuart have worked incredibly hard over the last two years in particular and there is a strong sense of gratitude on our part for their efforts, but we also believe that a new structure is needed."

General Manager, Nathan McGuirk, said the NRL were looking to take things in a different direction. McGuirk alluded to the numerous disputed calls made by referees this year (particularly video referees) as another reason for the decision.

"Nobody could criticise their commitment but as we have reviewed the year from a number of perspectives it has become clear that we need one person to manage what is a high performance team," he said.

English referee Russell Smith has been appointed to hold the single role that Harrigan and Raper shared, in an interim capacity. Smith will also assist McGuirk in establishing a revised refereeing squad for next year.

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16 Comments

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1 1
Stan12:48pm Saturday 27th October 2012 ESTReport Abuse
a sad day , these two men are being made scape goats , the big clubs complain when things dont go their way and this is what happens - what shame Aust sport has become
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Beerwolf11:40am Saturday 27th October 2012 ESTReport Abuse
Maybe they can get jobs being AFL umpires? AFL umpires suck pretty bad too!!!
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David11:29am Saturday 27th October 2012 ESTReport Abuse
well about time thats two dudd deals gone now it's time for thier shonky sidekicks to fall aswell.
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Rick Richard08:39am Saturday 27th October 2012 ESTReport Abuse
As the saying goes, a new broom sweeps clean.
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seek1mor08:20pm Friday 26th October 2012 ESTReport Abuse
Struth Owen, you are a prime example of why more people are shying away from reffing. It's palookas like you that ensure that the reffing standard remains so low. By the way Owen, have you ever thought about taking up the whistle???
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