Rugby league refs equipped with body cams to deter abusive sprays

Allan Wilton, the president of Group 16 rugby league, a competition covering the south coast of NSW from Batemans Bay to Eden and inland to Cooma and Jindabyne, said it was an important step to protect volunteers.

"It'll be a great tool to assist with minimising referee abuse whether it be coming from on the field, for referees entering or leaving the field, and to minimise abusive crowd behaviour towards referees," Wilton said.

"They've trialled the GoPros in other groups and competitions, and they've been successful in those trials.

"They're also a good resource for referee training and development.

"It can also be used to support referees at judicial matters, and it's really a deterrent for poor player and spectator behaviour and from the bench area at games."

Wilton said there had been four sets purchased, which would be used by the head referee on the field of play when officiating senior games.

The GoPro Hero camera will be mounted to a vest and provide footage of the game from the referee's perspective, picking up video and audio directed towards the wearer of the device.

During a soccer game in 2023, referee abuse was clearly demonstrated when Khodr Yaghi, 45, a referee officiating a game in Padstow, Sydney, required reconstructive surgery after his jaw was broken in three places by a suspended player at the end of a football match.

The response by Bankstown District Amateur Football Association was that body cameras would be trialled for referees in men's premier league matches, to show referees they were cared for and supported, and to show how anti-social behaviour was not welcome in the game.

In 2015, Tathra-based ref Shannon Shepherdson and Eden ref Neil Baker said insults and abuse were increasingly coming from the crowd rather than the players on the ground, after Sydney leagues were going to trial shoulder-mounted cameras.

But Baker said GoPros could provide security, as 500 referees called it a day, nationally, many of which were younger and held the future of refereeing in their grasp.

Daytona Porter, an 18-year-old Tathra resident, NSW Referee Development Squad referee and Group 16 ref, said the cameras may help to hold a higher retention of referees who might otherwise struggle and turn away from the career due to abusive comments.

"I think it's also a good preventative measure, it kind of gives players the idea you can't do things you used to do, get away with things abuse wise, verbal abuse and things like that," Porter said.

"Hopefully it stops them before it actually happens, but if it does happen, then at least there will be some accountability, and I guess it's also good in judiciaries to be able to see both sides, so refs don't over use their power.

"Just because you're wearing a jersey doesn't mean we can come up with 'This is what happened,' it's both sides of the story in the GoPros."