While much has been said in regard to the perceived lack of players to accommodate the NRL’s expansion to 19 teams (potentially more) by the end of the decade.
There is a hidden issue that is yet to be dissected, and it’s one that has major ramifications for the future of the game.
Without quality match officials, there is simply no game. Since the COVID era, we’ve seen referees become touch judges, touch judges become obsolete in some factors and the ability for the full-time match officials to be multi-skilled across two or more areas (referee/touch judge/bunker official).
The NRL have already made steps to cull officials from their full-time list who don’t fulfill these criteria. For some, they will go part time and take on an additional career.
These officials include both grand final touch judges from last year in Dave Munro and Chris Sutton.
Meanwhile, those who have dual capabilities will be retained on a full-time contract as per previous seasons.
The major issue with this, is we’re adding an extra game to the schedule next season. A general officiating crew consists of a referee, two touch judges, bunker official, a bunker supervisor and a match day coach.
That’s six officials (without including support staff) per game and currently at 48 officials required over eight games.
That comes up to 54 when we expand over the coming seasons. The reality is that resources are already stretched to their limits, with several touch judges doing two matches a week.
Secondly, the pool of referees that can officiate in the NRL has been significantly diluted over the COVID era.
Instead of officials being demoted to the NSW/QLD Cup and officials from those competitions being promoted into the middle, that simply has not occurred at a satisfactory rate since 2020 leaving a small pool of officials that can referee an NRL match. 2025 was the first time in several seasons, that there was not a single on-field officiating debut in the NRL squad, the exception being Jarrod Cole who had served as a touch judge previously.
That’s why in my view, 2026 is a critical year for referee development and it’s one that fans should be watching with careful interest.
There are quality officials in the NSW and QLD Cup, officials that work tirelessly and perform to a high standard.
With an extra game on the schedule and the issues previously outlined, the NRL need to back these officials at the highest level, or else risk major problems when expansion kicks into gear in the coming seasons.
It’s an issue that the NRL need to address quickly or else we will enter uncharted territory with officials that are either overworked, doing multiple games every week.
Or they blood too many officials too quickly to a point that they struggle to keep their heads above water in a higher level of competition.
The way the officiating department handle this matter in 2026 will be a must watch in the coming NRL season, their actions will either have a positive or negative consequence for seasons to come.