A&H

Preparation for first grand final

R

RefRyanAus

Member
Hi everyone, I am doing my first OA Grand Final tomorrow night and am keen for any finals advice you may be able to provide. I have the benefit of excellent and more experienced ARs as well as a Fourth Official whom is brilliant and a mentor to our junior referees. I have elected not to use coms as I don’t really feel comfortable with it yet as a centre (too much going on) and this is the first time I will have to interact with a fourth official. I know this will be a more intense game and that I will need to be mentally prepared for that but is there anything else I should be thinking about in the lead up to and during the game?
 
The Referee Store
Pre match contact with officials agree on time to arrive, attire etc.
Pre match instructions.
Competition rules.
Brush up on KFTPM Lotg
If you have the option to use Comms id say go for it especially if you have trusted, experienced colleagues to put in your ear.
Other than that, just referee what is in front of you.
 
On the field, referee the match not the occasion.

Before the game you will have to adapt a bit to the occasion. Be prepared that there will probably be more to do and it will all take longer. Give yourself more time so you don't end up rushing.

Work out what you want your fourth to do and if that changes what you ask senior AR to do compared to a run of the mill game
- Substitutions (single and more than one player at once)
- Record keeping
- Who is leading and who is confirming on time added in each half (this was a gotcha for me in my first Step 1 game as 4th - had no idea this was 4th's job until the 44th minute !)
- Involvement in decision-making and how you want any communication
- Managing benches
- Spare balls
- Involvement in warm-up (never seen 4th involved)
- Who goes on if you go down - senior AR or 4th (probably in competition rules)

Most of all, enjoy it. You must have done something right to earn it and that's why we do this isn't it ?
 
Take your time making sure you get everything organised the way you want.
Be a bit more precise with your assistants about what you want them to do.

Are you going to walk out with the teams like professional teams?
Sounds ideal with the team that you have with you, enjoy it and work together. I would use comms if you can.

I have Prelim Finals tomorrow night and hopefully Grand Finals next week.

Good luck and let us know how it went.
 
Congrats mate. Grand finals are hard to come by so you must have done something right during the season.

Depending on how often you have ARs you may have to pay particular attention to and be more conscious of regular eye contact with them. Similar with your 4O. The benefit of 4O is less to worry about around the TA, use that to your advantage.

I assume you would have had semi/prelim finals in the lead up. Sudden death consequences like intensity or rules are very similar. Lift your game as would the players but don't change how you referee.

The biggest mistake in a grand final I have seen is the referee not using their cards or the sin bin so they don't ruin the grand final. It's not on you, it's on them. If you would have done it during the season, do it in the grand final too.

Enjoy the experience and tell us about it.
 
Thanks everyone. Got out alive last night. Ended up using coms which was good but poor reception with one AR was a bit of an issue. It was a high intensity game (as expected) and I was a bit nervous to start with. I think I handled most KMI OK but probably needed to lower my threshold for fouls in the first half. There were nine yellows (including a double up) during the game and letting some of the more minor things go early probably contributed to some escalation which I could / should have headed off. I thought my second half was better, and good for the most part. I appreciated the constructive and direct feedback provided by my more experienced team at half time whichever helped identify a few areas to really focus on. I think I had reasonable control for most of the game but a moment where I inexplicably failed to take the time to explain the reason why a goal was disallowed to the attacking captain and was unable to identify the perpetrator of the reckless charge that resulted in this outcome was problematic. I failed to sell this decision well and it impacted my authority over the last part of the game when there was already some aggravation and bad faith at hand (I just got caught up in getting the primary decision right and dealing with the injury that had occurred). The foul count was lopsided which also wasn’t particularly helpful… but what can you do. Overall, I am very grateful for having been given the opportunity and enjoyed the experience (mostly). I gave it my best shot definitely. Better player management and taking more time out of the game to calm certain situations is something for me to work on in future seasons. I think I did OK given where I feel I am at as a referee but we are always learning and it is the more complex and nuanced parts of the job that I probably need to think about more and get better at. I don’t have the life experience and maturity of some referees and this probably showed on the day.
 
It's good that you can self-analyse in the way that you have.
Don't be too hard on yourself, decisions in a big game can sometimes be blown out of proportion a little.

You will be a better referee for doing the game.
 
Well done. It's annoying if you know there's a card but don't have the number. This is one area you can mention in the pre-match to experienced ARs - and you might get lucky in a game. At mass cons, advantage situations, VC etc. once in a blue moon your AR might see the number when you don't;)
 
santa sangria said:
Well done. It's annoying if you know there's a card but don't have the number. This is one area you can mention in the pre-match to experienced ARs - and you might get lucky in a game. At mass cons, advantage situations, VC etc. once in a blue moon your AR might see the number when you don't;)
Click to expand...
Generally 'experienced' AR know this already :) but good point to include it in your pre-match.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top