Rugby league match officials

Rugby league match officials are responsible for fairly enforcing the Laws of the Game from a neutral point of view during a match of rugby league football and imposing penalties for deliberate breaches of these Laws.

[9] The referee inspects the playing kit of the two teams to ensure it is within the rules, safety is the main concern.

[1] The referee may blow for half time and full-time when those periods have elapsed, or after hearing the hooter if responsibility has been delegated.

[11] Potential top level referees must first pass refereeing exams set by a governing body, such as the Rugby Football League in the United Kingdom, before officiating at progressively more senior levels of the sport, gaining experience in amateur competitions and then moving onto the professional leagues where they will progress to the top if good enough.

[7] Referees need to be "very fit", with physical training being a requirement at a professional level of competition.

[16] In Northern Hemisphere competitions, the video referee is stationed at the ground itself, usually in either the TV production truck or a special booth inside the stadium, while in the NRL a group of video referees make decisions on all matches from "The Bunker", a specially-constructed facility near league headquarters in Sydney modeled after similar instant-replay rooms used by American sports leagues like MLB or the NHL.

[18][19] When time has expired the timekeepers sound the hooter, at this signal the referee will blow his whistle to end play at an existing stoppage or wait for the next one to occur.

They ensure the game kicks off on time and any incidents that may arise are brought to the attention of the Rugby Football League.