Match officials coach Collins called to NRL for Round 1
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For rugby league to run smoothly, there are many cogs in the wheel.
There’s players, coaches, administrators, match officials, volunteers and more who ensure thousands can take to the field every weekend at a community level and the standard is exemplary at the elite level.
One cog in that wheel is officiating match day coaches. One such coach is Vic Collins.
Collins has been appointed as match day coach for the NRL Round 1 clash between Gold Coast Titans and St George Illawarra Dragons on Saturday; the referee for that game is Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski and the touch judges are Tyson Brough and Matt Noyen.
The accountant, who owns his own accountancy company at the Sunshine Coast and is president of the Sunshine Coast and Gympie Rugby League Referees Association, said he was thrilled to be appointed.
“It’s an honour but it’s also a big responsibility as well… I’m really looking forward to it,” Collins said, noting it was “testament to the systems in place up here to progress people through the pathways”.
Collins first became involved in the officiating space as a junior referee and worked his way through to coaching, eventually at carnivals to now coaching statewide competitions match officials – particularly in the Hostplus Cup and BMD Premiership.
“I just think it's an honour to be working in our great game with some of the best athletes on the field and the longevity of coaching versus the on-field stuff, you get a broad spectrum of different officials, different people, and it’s just so enjoyable,” Collins said.
“You see kids that come through our junior system like Lachlan Sutton and Matt Gannon, who last year debuted in Cup, and you get to follow their journey all the way through.
“We're probably very similar to a player's coach…by then at that level, the athlete being the referees with all the skills they need, all you're doing at that level is trying to get them comfortable in that environment and to provide a supporting role, extra set of eyes and ears.
“The team is so highly talented at that level, you're really just facilitating their best experience rather than coaching anything in particular.
“Then do the review and have a good chat with them and just go through their games in detail.”
Collins said he had the privilege of going to Sydney a few weeks ago to meet the broader NRL match officials squad, and work with their coaching team, off the back of the NRLW season last year.
He said he was hopeful of getting appointed to an NRL game, it wasn’t expected.
“Whilst you never expect these things, I knew there was a possibility there, but it’s still pretty awesome (that it’s happening),” Collins said.
“My goal this week is really is just to assist the officials to get the best out of their day and basically have them feel like there's not anything different.”
Collins said he would continue doing what he did because he loved the game of rugby league.
“I love that rugby league is just so widely accessible. And whilst I’ve been lucky enough to work in the elite space… community footy is still our best product,” Collins said.
“So many people get out there on the weekends who, it's there, 80 or 70 minutes to be them, and to be able to provide that to be a safe environment where people have fun and that sense of community, I think it’s just such a great sport.”
Collins said the future of the officiating in Queensland was bright, with plenty of talent across the metropolitan and regional areas, but more match officials were always needed to ensure that cog in the wheel remains in tact.
NRL elite officiating general manager Jared Maxwell said he was so pleased to be able to appoint Collins for Round 1, noting the pathway in Queensland was integral to success in the space.
Maxwell said the role was “as critical as the guys and girls on the field”.
“If you have an aspiration to get to the top, persistence pays… with the culture and connection between the states and the NRL, the best will rise,” Maxwell said.
“It’s something that we've got to invest more time and focus on because the role in the modern game around the support of the on-field team is as critical and we've got to build the coaching structure to support that role.
“And that’s where the pathway program for referees is one thing, touch judges is another, and in the NRL video referees is another, and also coaching on and off the field.
“It’s very, very important. The modern day official has a lot going on and to have that calming influence from a coaching perspective, who’s not engaged in any decision making, just the overall product from a bird’s eye view, is critical.”
Maxwell said the art of the coaching role was twofold.
“One, it’s the understanding of the operation side of what the premiership requires.
“Secondly it’s understanding the environment… NRL is a magnificent entertainment product and we’ve got to set that environment… the players deliver it, we set it.
“Any match official going out there needs to work to certain metrics about how we get to that and be able to be comfortably setting an environment for the players.
“The match day coach has to have that understanding…. it's just not about telling them that ‘you're doing this wrong or doing that wrong’… it's supporting what they're trying to achieve in relation to their overall game that suits the product.
“And that's where I think Vic's understanding and education at lower levels, the Hostplus Cup and the NRLW Premiership last year, has seen him grow and develop an understanding of that environment better than what he ever has.
“That’s therefore going to suit any full-time referee going out there, and that's why he's there… we’ve seen that growth.
“We’ve got to keep building it, though… it's just an important cog the game is expanding and we’ve got to keep up with that on and off the field.”
Queensland Rugby League state match officials manager Clayton Sharpe, noting a key priority this year was the upskill coach match officials, said it showed officiating participants there was another avenue to progress to the elite game.
