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Hi everyone, I am doing my first OA Grand Final tomorrow night and am keen for any finals advice you may be able to provide. I have the benefit of excellent and more experienced ARs as well as a Fourth Official whom is brilliant and a mentor to our junior referees. I have elected not to use...

Welcome Phil. I am Ryan and have just about finished my 5th season refereeing here on the Sunshine Coast. I am finishing grade 12 this year and will probably need to take a break from refereeing as I move to the big smoke for Uni. We will see. It is a great pastime and way to stay connected to...

Thanks everyone. Some great advice here and I really appreciate the support offered which is why I love this forum so much. I normally have no difficulty dealing with dissent and feel like I have a good rapport with most players. I am more than happy to have a bit of a chat on the field and even...

Thanks everyone. I accept the higher road is the correct path to take here. Just cross that a mature and very experienced coach felt the need to try to undermine the confidence of a 17 year old referee in that way. I am sure I will be back with one of his teams next weekend or next month and of...

At the end of a recent game, the losing coach shook my hand and whilst doing so said ‘**** as always Ref but at least **** to both teams today’. It was said in a joking way and I do know this coach from many other fixtures so just accepted it as a bit of friendly banter. Of course I realise this...

A few suggestions which might help:- 1. Don’t beat yourself up. We all have bad games and probably more so early on. 2. Remember that confidence and selling your decisions are both critical. You won’t always feel confident but it is a good idea not to seem rattled or uncertain if you can help...

Not OK at all. I have no problem sharing my kit with other referees who may not have all colours but to take a shirt from your bag unprompted and without consent is definitely a breach of trust. Mentoring and offering encouragement to younger referees is hopefully something you continue to do...

Great. Thanks Kes and RustyRef. I really appreciate your further clarifications and advice on the topic. I have 6 games this weekend (if I am still standing by the end) so should get plenty of practice refining my approach.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate you all taking the time to provide advice and perspectives on this topic. It sounds like my approach is not unreasonable although I take on board the tips about setting expectations early, being consistent and being most concerned about when an unfair...

Hi, I am just wondering how much flexibility other referees provide around the position of a throw-in relative to where the ball goes out? I don’t feel like I am pedantic on this issue but I do certainly seem to be annoying a few adult players at the moment when I expect them to move up or down...

I feel your pain Murri. Almost all my games are now videotaped as a training tool for the teams involved and I have no doubt there is a forensic examination of my poor refereeing decisions from time to time (perhaps every time :-)). Of course anyone who has ever even tried to referee knows that...

Thanks everyone. That is really helpful. I know it’s contested space but the description of the events as PIADM or attempting to kick give me some useful tools I can use for next time depending on the circumstances. Thanks also Santa Sangria for the advice on early engagement with the teams...

Hi, I am finding this a difficult issue of judgement and would like some advice from more experienced referees about when to intervene. On the weekend I had a game in wet conditions with a number of poorly timed slide tackles that missed balls (and thankfully) players. The players who were...

Thanks for your advice everyone. It may be that I am over communicating on these set pieces and will have a think about this for next time. The goal keeper was very experienced and the teams were part of an academy group so it certainly wasn’t their first rodeo. :)

Thanks for taking the time to reply Peter. I did provide some earlier instructions to the GK but I take your point that maybe it would have been wise to reiterate the point to both the GK and outfield players at the same time so that it was clear to everyone what the reference to hold was...

During a fairly standard penalty sequence I gave instructions to the goal keeper that the penalty kick would be taken on my whistle and told both teams to hold outside of the PA. I always try to make the whistle instruction very clear to everyone (I hope). Immediately before and after blowing...

Thanks everyone. I have just finished three first round junior games and can hardly walk after 6 hours on the pitch. Talk about rude awakening and yes Justylove I agree that there is a difference between normal and match fitness. In good news whistle technique was good right off the bat. Alas, a...

Hi everyone, the new season is just kicking off again in Oz and I am feeling a bit out of practice for the first games. I’ve been training in the off-season and am pretty fit as we just completed pre-season fitness tests. I have also been through my kit and checked the LOTG and infringement...

Hi, I am a 16yo Ref and have definitely had days like the ones you describe... I think we all have. This is my fourth year as a junior referee and it is only this year that I have felt like I have a reasonably high level of control and confidence in my self. I am doing senior games now and this...

As a general rule I find there is more holding in these kinds of games but less tripping and high intensity tackling efforts. It can sometimes be a mistake to let the holding go unnoticed as it can lead to other more problematic offending as the game goes on.