Official superstar marking 400th A grade game

One of Queensland's most dedicated and well-travelled grassroots referees is marking the huge milestone of 400 A grade games in charge.

Michael Inman has blazed a trail of officiating across the state, spending more than 20 years in community footy in every corner of north Queensland.

He made his A grade debut in Cairns in 1997, where he officiated the bulk of his games including seven grand finals, before hanging up the whistle in a full time capacity in 2010.

But Inman couldn't be kept off the field and has since officiated games in Mt Isa, Midwest, Cooktown, Weipa, Northern Peninsula, Thursday Island, Townsville, Bowen and Mackay competitions, and also in Central Highlands.

Getting back into it regularly wasn't in his plans when he moved to the Sunshine Coast in 2020, but midway through last season he answered the call for help in Toowoomba and has been making the 400 to 500-kilometre round trip each weekend to be involved in A grade.

Such is Inman's attention to detail, he has kept a record of each A grade game he has refereed - on top of the 54 he officiated in Hostplus Cup - and brings up his milestone in Dalby when the Diehards host Pittsworth Danes on Saturday.

Inman said it was "scary" to realise he's done so many games and valued how his role in community rugby league had helped him develop a better understanding of the game.

"You see the hits, the tackle technique, how they structure the play, how the halves direct traffic - it's a wonderful experience being on the field when they just play footy. It's a very pure sport to watch from that seat," he said.

"All you've to do is make sure there's an acceptable play-the-ball speed and acceptable 10 metres and the players look after the rest. 

"It's community footy. It's great footy. For example, the game I refereed on the weekend, Newtown v Souths, it was just a bunch of tryers who train hard during the week and just play footy as hard as they can.

"They're not there for money, not there for anything else, they're just there to represent the logo on their jersey and that's what footy is all about essentially."

Inman said he would not have reached the milestone if not for the help of so many people behind the scenes, from early coaches such as David Isaacs, to Eddie Ward and John Topp, the latter who also helped off the field during his time as a referee development officer with the NRL to create pathway programs and shape his coaching and mentoring.

"I can only hope I do half as good work as what they did to me to help the next brigade coming through have the same opportunities," Inman said.

"If you asked me 13 years ago, I would have said refereeing was the be all and end all. But hanging up the whistle full time until recently, it has been about coaching.

"My officiating career you can split into two. One was all about refereeing and now the second part is all about coaching, development and helping others.

"Both are as equal to each other. Refereeing early on up in Cairns and maintaining a status to referee those big games, that was my want, but as you get older you have to help others and get people in the pipeline so the game of rugby league can continue into the future and that's our role at the moment, to make sure we have enough people coming up behind us."

Inman, who officiated the Toowoomba Rugby League A grade grand final last year, said it would be business as usual in his milestone clash between two hot sides in Dalby and Pittsworth, but would take a moment to celebrate after full-time.

"After the game is always good for reflection. I think I'll take an extra moment and extra bourbon for reflection this week," he said.

"These moments don't come very often, especially a number like that, but it's always rewarding."

Inman said he was humbled at the support of both the refereeing fraternity and the wider rugby league community as he prepared to reach the milestone.