Feb 5th, 2019

Feb 5th, 2019

Angry referees have struck a peace deal with the NRL, averting the threat of strike action in round one of the premiership next month.

The two groups have been at loggerheads over pay and conditions for months, with the frustrated refs taking the unprecedented step of threatening a boycott of round one games.

But the referees were successful in most of their claims, although they are still unhappy with the leadership of their immediate bosses, Tony Archer and Bernard Sutton.

The improvements the referees received included: pay for trials - in the past they did trial games for no money, weekly pay increases for part-timers from $250 to $360, match payments rise from $1300 to $1480, and for the NRL to pay for physio and medical expenses straight away rather than refs paying for them and then being reimbursed.

“Overall it was a good result although the group is still not happy with the work environment,” a referees source told WWOS.