This year’s NSWRL Referees Development Squad has the highest female representation on record – 10 women – as part of the line-up that will handle all Junior Reps and Country Championships seasons.
They are among the 86-strong squad comprising 22 newcomers and 64 referees returning from 2024. (Olivia Lawne, pictured above: Photo Bryden Sharp)
They have been in pre-season training since last November for the metropolitan Junior Reps competitions, which start on 1 February – the Westpac Lisa Fiaola Cup (Under 17s), Westpac Tarsha Gale Cup (U19s), UNE Harold Matthews Cup (U17s) and UNE SG Ball Cup (U19s).
Competition in the regional Junior Reps – the SLE Andrew Johns Cup (U16s), SLE Laurie Daley Cup (U18s) and Westpac Lisa Fiaola Cup (U17s) – along with the Women’s Country Championships start on 8 February. The Men’s Country Championships begin 22 February.
“This development squad is the connection from grassroots to high performance,” said NSWRL Community Football Referees Manager Gavin Badger.
“After Junior Reps are completed some of these referees will move up into our Major Competitions squad and some will go back to their Groups or districts. They will be returning as more technically skilled and with a better understanding of what it takes to be a high-performance referee.”
The 2025 development squad is the highest female representation since Badger started with the NSWRL in 2016 after a lengthy NRL refereeing career.
“It has been harder to get the girls involved because they used to have to stop playing at 12 years of age, so many would take up refereeing to stay involved with the game,” he said.
“Now with Lisa Fiaola, Tarsha Gale and Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership there is a players’ pathway right up to the NRLW.
“That all makes my job harder to get the girls across, so to have 10 in our 2025 development squad is exciting and we’ll be working to attract more.”
The squad contains school leavers, university students, or workforce employees, primarily aged between 17 and 25.
“If you’re from NSW and you want to get into the elite level – the NRL – as a match official then you have to come through this system,” Badger said.
“And yes it takes commitment. These guys train twice a week in the pre-season, then weekly once matches start, and they have to juggle all that with their studies or employment. Their weekends are taken up as well and once Junior Reps finish (late April) they go back to their districts.
“They do not get much of a break from footy in a year. But it’s the same pathway virtually as a player – these referees are just a bit older.”
The full list of the NSWRL 2025 Referees Development Squad is:
Returning members (association in brackets)
Rami Abu-Mansour (Cronulla), Harrison Bayssari (Parramatta), Joshua Blackman
(Cronulla), Landon Blissett (Group 3), Lachlan Bryant (Central Coast), Harrison Buxton (Penrith), Jaylen Chasle (Cronulla), *Bailey Clark (Female, Parramatta),
Bailey Clark (Male, Parramatta* there are two referees with the same name), Lincoln Close (Northern Rivers), Jabril Daizli (Canterbury), William D’Amato
(Illawarra), Jacob Dean (Parramatta), Isaac El-Hassan (Canterbury), Regan Evans (Castlereagh Cup), Jack Fisher (Newcastle), James Fitzgerald (Penrith),
William Flint (Penrith), Matthew Galvin (Group 6), Jack Gerrie (Balmain), Lachlan Gillies (Group 4), Matthew Gomes (Canterbury), Stuart Halsey (Group 10),
Tiarra Hardwick (Group 20), Aden Hayward (Group 6), Wilson Hooper (Newcastle), Thomas Inness (Illawarra), Tallon Irons (South Sydney), Jayden Kastelan (Penrith), Olivia Lawne (Parramatta), Salvatore Marigliano (Cronulla),
Jesse McGuire (South Sydney), Max McGuire-Allan (Group 11), Ryan Micallef
(Group 7), Brock Millar (Parramatta), Jacob Nelson (Group 2), Logan Nielson
(Group 6), Conner O’Neill (Penrith), Oscar Perkins (Group 4), William Perrott
(Canberra), Daytona Porter (Group 16), Alexander Pruscino (St George), Ben Raymond (Penrith), Aidan Richardson (Group 7), Callum Richardson (Central Coast), Liam Richardson (Canberra), Callum Rigby (Group 6), Curtis Robinson
(Penrith), Brodie Rushby (Penrith), Tom Rynehart (Canberra), Reece Sammut
(Penrith), Amelia Sheppard (Illawarra), Balunn Simon (Group 7), Isabella Smith
(Central Coast), Lachlan Smith (Parramatta), Carter Spowert-Lehman (Group 7),
Brayden Sylvester (Group 4), Ben Thompson (Central Coast), Jack Thornton
(Northern Rivers), Jake Walsh (Manly), Bailey Warren (Group 7), Nicholas Willer
(Group 2), Josh Williamson (Penrith), Siobhan Wilson (Group 3).
New members
Maisy Macarthur (Parramatta), Joshua Anderson (Balmain), Riley Hayes (Group 3), Liam O’Brien (Parramatta), Jack Chapman (Group 6), Oscar Mayer (Group 6),
Luke Heiler (Balmain), Luke Donovan (Newcastle), Lachlan Lucas (Newcastle), Declan Fitzgerald (Newcastle), Aleksandr Fitzgerald (Newcastle), William Keep (Manly), Josh Leigh (Manly), Ryley Veigel (Canterbury), Toby Parrott (St George),
Harry Kontrafouris (St George), Jack Catania (Penrith), Travis Cochrane (Penrith), Sonny Eastwood (Castlereagh Cup), Tyler Armstrong (North Sydney), Ellen Mcleod (Touch Football NSW), Caitlin Sherry (Touch Football NSW).
