Robert’s big date Down Under

Robert Hicks

OLDHAM Super League referee Robert Hicks is jetting off Down Under tomorrow as he prepares to officiate at a prestigious NRL international match next weekend.

Three high-profile matches are being staged in Australia – the Anzac Test between the hosts and New Zealand in Newcastle next Friday, before Papua New Guinea face Fiji and Tonga play Samoa on Saturday in Parramatta.

Hicks will referee one of the matches in Parramatta.

Hicks said: “I’m really looking forward to my trip.

“It’s a great honour for me to have been selected for such a huge game.

“I am a little bit nervous because whichever match I’m chosen to officiate in, it’ll be huge.

“It’s going to be a terrific experience and I’m determined to learn lots from it.

“I guess this trip is reward for a consistent year in the middle, so I’m proud to have been invited.”

It won’t be the first trip Down Under for vastly-experienced whistler Hicks.

He was a touch judge at the four-nations tournament in Australia in 2014.