Time moves on for Smith

SECONDS OUT... Ian Smith is working for the RFL as match officials coach after retiring from refereeing

RUGBY: IAN Smith has entered a new chapter of his rugby league career.

At 45 years of age and after taking charge of Super League matches for a decade — no doubt earning plenty of ‘helpful’ advice from the stands in the process — the former teacher has hung up his studs for good.

Now a qualified personal trainer, Smith, from Oldham, has started a new job working for the Rugby Football League as match officials coach.

Working under match officials director Stuart Cummings, his responsibilities lie in appointing, coaching, reviewing and giving feedback to 15 referees working in the Co-operative Championship divisions. He will also review the performance of full-time referees in Super League.

“At the moment, I am travelling around to see all the referees,” said Smith, speaking on the way back from a journey to Barnsley to talk with referee Ronnie Laughton.

“It is a lot of work and I have only been in the job officially for a few weeks.

“I’ve also gone to Toulouse to speak with (coach) Gilles Dumas.

“I will also be seeing every coach in the Championship as part of my role.

“The idea is to get involved in discussions with coaches and players to develop an understanding of each other and to try to create a sort of consensus.”

Smith’s new appointment is one of a number of changes to officialdom ahead of the 2011 season.

Oldham official Robert Hicks (29), previously a part-time referee due to his day job as a solicitor, is now full-time after taking a job in RFL legal department.

In addition, Warren Turley (20) has picked up an RFL bursary to continue studying at Leeds Metropolitan University and will train with the match officials squad at Headingley alongside Hicks.

And another young gun Tim Roby (21), who recently graduated from York University with a first class honours degree in politics, will also spend time training with his fellow officials.

Smith has no complaints about this changing of the guard and says it was a “no brainer” when first approached by Cummings about taking on his new job the day after the Super League Grand Final earlier this year.

“When I started off, I wanted to referee in Super League,” Smith said.

“After taking charge of 269 matches in Super League, at an average of 27 rounds a year for a decade, I count that as a massive achievement in its own right.

“Did I take charge of any major finals? No.

“But then, I have been refereeing at the same time as a number of outstanding officials.

“If I had sat back and contemplated getting to this point when I was made a grade one referee 12 years ago, I would have been delighted.”

While he believes top officials have made good progress since the introduction of full-time roles, Smith now hopes he can help bridge the gap between Super League and Championship referees.

“Six of us were made full-time referees a few years ago and because of the intensity, I think things have progressed well,” Smith added.

“It is difficult, because part-time officials only get together a couple of times a month.

“It has possibly meant that Championship referees have been left behind a little bit.

“Hopefully, the extra feedback they will now get will close the gap.”