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CANTERBURY premiership-winning fullback Luke Patten is set to become the next former NRL player to make the transition into the refereeing ranks.
NRL referees boss Bill Harrigan said an approach had been made from a representative of Patten's UK Super League club Salford on behalf of the 2004 NRL premiership winner about becoming a whistleblower.
Patten's decision has been inspired by the success of ex-players turned referees such as Henry Perenara and Luke Phillips.
"Luke's seen how the boys have being going in making the transition from player to ref and I was told that Luke's interested in doing something similar in his career,'' said Harrigan.
Patten has two more years to run on his contract at Salford and will return to Australia following the 2013 Super League season.
Harrigan has advised Patten to make contact with Super League referees boss Stuart Cummins and look at getting his refereeing ticket in the UK.
"He might be able to referee schoolboy games or some club-related games in the local area whilst he is playing and he can bring that experience back with him rather than starting from scratch,'' Harrigan said.
Harrigan believes Patten is a good refereeing prospect.
"Going on the way he handled himself on the field, with his temperament and the way he approached referees and spoke to his players, I think he's got the makings of a very good referee,'' he said.
Perenara, a former Warriors, Melbourne, St George Illawarra, Parramatta and Cronulla player, has become the poster boy of players-turned referees.
He capped his meteoric rise after his first year of NRL refereeing by taking control of last weekend's Australia-England Four Nations clash at Wembley.
Perenara was one of three ex-players, along with Sydney Roosters NRL premiership winner Phillips and former South Sydney back Paul Mellor, who joined the refereeing ranks four years ago.
Phillips and Perenara are established NRL referees while Mellor works as a video referee.
Meanwhile Harrigan has tipped a bright future with the whistle for 26-year-old former Cronulla backrower Reece Williams, who started refereeing earlier this year.
Williams was forced to retire in 2010 after he was hospitalised by a series of head knocks.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...come-nrl-referee/story-e6frexnr-1226188845751
NRL referees boss Bill Harrigan said an approach had been made from a representative of Patten's UK Super League club Salford on behalf of the 2004 NRL premiership winner about becoming a whistleblower.
Patten's decision has been inspired by the success of ex-players turned referees such as Henry Perenara and Luke Phillips.
"Luke's seen how the boys have being going in making the transition from player to ref and I was told that Luke's interested in doing something similar in his career,'' said Harrigan.
Patten has two more years to run on his contract at Salford and will return to Australia following the 2013 Super League season.
Harrigan has advised Patten to make contact with Super League referees boss Stuart Cummins and look at getting his refereeing ticket in the UK.
"He might be able to referee schoolboy games or some club-related games in the local area whilst he is playing and he can bring that experience back with him rather than starting from scratch,'' Harrigan said.
Harrigan believes Patten is a good refereeing prospect.
"Going on the way he handled himself on the field, with his temperament and the way he approached referees and spoke to his players, I think he's got the makings of a very good referee,'' he said.
Perenara, a former Warriors, Melbourne, St George Illawarra, Parramatta and Cronulla player, has become the poster boy of players-turned referees.
He capped his meteoric rise after his first year of NRL refereeing by taking control of last weekend's Australia-England Four Nations clash at Wembley.
Perenara was one of three ex-players, along with Sydney Roosters NRL premiership winner Phillips and former South Sydney back Paul Mellor, who joined the refereeing ranks four years ago.
Phillips and Perenara are established NRL referees while Mellor works as a video referee.
Meanwhile Harrigan has tipped a bright future with the whistle for 26-year-old former Cronulla backrower Reece Williams, who started refereeing earlier this year.
Williams was forced to retire in 2010 after he was hospitalised by a series of head knocks.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...come-nrl-referee/story-e6frexnr-1226188845751
