Russell Smith (referee)

Russell Smith
Personal information
Born (1964-01-24) 24 January 1964 (age 60)
Castleford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Refereeing information
Years Competition Apps
1990–96 Rugby Football League Championship
1996–04 Super League
2005–06 National Rugby League
1993–05 Internationals
Source: [1]

Russell Smith is a former rugby league referee who now administers and coaches match officials.

Smith controlled his first Rugby Football League Championship match on 9 September 1990, a match between Featherstone Rovers and Hull Kingston Rovers. His first international was between Australia and New Zealand on 20 June 1993.[1]

He controlled matches in the 1995 and 2000 Rugby League World Cups, as well as five Challenge Cup finals.[2] In 2004 he was named the international referee of the year.[3]

He moved to Australia in 2005, becoming a National Rugby League referee.[4] He retired at the end of the 2006 NRL season.[1]

After retiring, Smith became a video official and, after a stint as the interim boss,[5][6] acted as a senior advisor to the referees boss, Daniel Anderson.[7][8] He was a match officials coach at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.[9]

  1. ^ a b c Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Russell Smith - Referee Career". Rugby League Project.
  2. ^ "Smith quits after 15 years as ref". BBC News. 7 September 2006.
  3. ^ "It's official! Top ref Russell's ready to take on best". Yorkshire Evening Post.
  4. ^ "Referee Russell Smith,right, reveals how the decision to swap the cosy familiarity of Castleford for the sun, sea and surf of Sydney is proving to be a dream move for both him and his family". Yorkshire Post.
  5. ^ "Russell Smith placed in temporary charge of referees in Australia's NRL". Sky Sports.
  6. ^ "Russell Smith set to lead NRL refs". Love Rugby League. 31 May 2012.
  7. ^ "Archer, Smith in line for top ref jobs". Daily Telegraph.
  8. ^ Carayananis, Michael (22 August 2013). "Former NRL referee Harrigan blasts Anderson". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  9. ^ "RLWC2017 Match Officials Announced". RLWC2017. 9 October 2017.