James Child | Transition

Former Super League referee James Child reflects on his career as one of the sport's top match officials and some of the challenges he faced, both on and off the field.

James looks back on how he combined his sporting life with a part-time role as a chartered surveyor, discusses the factors that influenced his decision to come out in 2021, and shares some careers advice with current and up-and-coming match officials.

I always felt that by having a job outside of rugby league it kept me in touch with the real world, because sport is not the real world, especially for an individual role like a referee where you can become quite insular.