Diamond!

[Guest]

From Pomster at The Wall:

MELBOURNE STORM v CRONULLA SHARKS at AAMI Park, 7.30pm
Referees: Ashley Klein, Luke Phillips.

I think this is Luke's first first-grade match. Congrats Diamond!

[supermario]

Who wants to go to melbourne and support the refs !!!

[elo]

Cool, wish we could have grabbed him.....he was rock solid on the line when we had him against the Titans.

[Guest]

If he brings the same integrity to refereeing that he brought to playing then he'll be the next Darcy Lawler.

Er...I mean Bill Harrigan...

Uh...shit, there are no good refs. Until Saturday night when Luke Phillips referees the Sharks game.

[Guest]

Gotta watch that just to see how he goes.I can never forget his game in the 2000GF. The guy has class, potentially the future Number 1 ref. Good luck Luke.

[Guest]

I think he'll be a great ref...he'll make mistakes but hopefully he'll be good reffing Roosters games...at least we know he won't have a hidden agenda and punish us like a couple of the other pricks reffing now...

[BUDDY]

Opposition fans will spew if we happen to win a penalty count with him, so I think we may cop a few bad calls with him. It will be interesting when Finchy picks him for one of our games.

[Guest]

Opposition fans will spew if we happen to win a penalty count with him

They would have good reason to. We never win the penalty count normally, so something must be up!

[redwhiteandbluester]

They would have good reason to. We never win the penalty count normally, so something must be up!

Exactly.

The minute the referees become even-handed in their treatment of the Roosters, alarm bells will start ringing.

[The Pelican]

Grand final hero returns to the big time … as a referee Chris Barrett
August 18, 2010


IT WAS at a Sydney Roosters function a few years ago, as he was trying to decide what to do with his post-NRL life, that the idea of becoming a match official entered Luke Phillips's mind.

''Gus Gould was there and said to me: 'Why don't you have a go at refereeing? The NRL is looking for players who want to pick up a whistle','' said Phillips, the Roosters' 2002 grand final hero, whose playing career was cut short by injuries.

''I was just looking for another avenue to stay involved in the game. I didn't even think I would enjoy it at first but I really did.''

His journey - from officiating in the Central Coast competition in 2007 to a cadetship with the NRL in 2008 alongside Henry Perenara and Paul Mellor and then onto NSW Cup and the Toyota Cup - reaches a definitive moment on Saturday night when he makes his NRL refereeing debut in the match between Melbourne and Cronulla at AAMI Park.

He will become the first former NRL player to complete the transition. Phillips has had involvement at the top level before, appearing as a touch judge in round 26 last year. He was also one of four rotating referees in the inaugural All Stars match in February.

''The referees know that [referees' coach Robert Finch] debuts refs at the end of the season when there are games that have no bearing on the top eight,'' Phillips said. ''I wasn't expecting it, but it's a good reward for the hard work we've put in.''

Phillips will appear predominantly as the ''pocket referee'' to main official Ashley Klein on Saturday, but he will get the chance to use the whistle if the experienced Klein has his way.

''He's sort of said that he wants to give me a crack at it for a while … there's no use being out there if you're not going to get right into it,'' said Phillips, who juggles his commitments as a full-time referee with his pinball- and video game-supply business.

In Melbourne he will referee one former clubmate, Storm five-eighth Brett Finch, and a couple of others he played against during his career. The prospect of giving out the orders to old colleagues does not faze him.

''I'm sort of used to that now,'' he said. ''When I referee in NSW Cup I see guys I used to play with or against. It won't be anything new.''

All he is concerned about, in a week where referees are back in the spotlight, is going about his job with minimum fuss. ''The referee's goal, as they say, is to be not spoken about off the field after the game,'' Phillips said. ''Hopefully that will happen on Saturday night.''

[Guest]

It was the 2000 Gf, not 2002.

[redwhiteandbluester]

He played in both GFs.

The press don't often write up GF losers as heroes, even when they turn in performances like Phillips did in 2000.

[Guest]

His shoulder was completely ratshit in 2002. I should know because I hugged him and he screamed in pain.