Protector of the laws has practical experience . . .

Press, 24 June 1978, Page 12

Protector of the laws has practical experience . . .

The premier rugby league players from the Hornby and Linwood clubs are unlikely to be given much licence if they attempt to bend the code's playing rules in their match at the Show Grounds this afternoon. They will be under th? watchful eye of Mr Rod MacKenzie. who has made a rapid advance to the top grade since he switched to

refereeing after an in-cident-packed career as a front-row forward. MacKenzie has approached his refereeing duties with the enthusiasm which marked his attitude as a player for Sydenham, Hornby and Marist-West-ern Suburbs, and in guiding Marist and Kaiapoi lower grade sides to success as a coach. His assignments this

week-end testify to his keenness. This morning he is scheduled to control a schoolboys’ fixture, he makes his premier refereeing debut a few hours later, and tomorrow he is to officiate in a third devision game between Papanui and United at Paparua.

But if MacKenzie is now upholding law and order on the field, he has

By

JOHN COFFEY

seen the workings of the league’s judicial system from a very different angle. MacKenzie’s competitiveness carried him to, and sometimes past, the limits of the laws and he incurred several orderings off. Because of the reputation that he inevitably earned from such transgressions, MacKenzie was frequently the target of provocation by opponents and is well qualified to

spot and penalise the niggling tactics which have been too prevalent this season. Mackenzie was certainly resilient. He returned from one representative fixture at Wellington with eight stitches inserted in a cut inside his mouth, another six in a gashed ear, and with two broken bones in his right hand. He completed the match.

After having made two appearances for Canterbury in 1969, Mackenzie was quite outstanding the next winter. He had seven more games for the province, scoring both of its tries against the powerful New South Wales Country XIII, and was in the Wellington Invitation team against Great Britain. Very few prominent footballers take up refereeing when they retire, and Mackenzie’s quick

rise through the grades might be a ■ source of encouragement to others. Hookers, perhaps, have a special talent for impressing as referees, ken Blackler, a Canterbury respresentative in 1969 and 1971 and a longserving player for Papanui, was elevated to the premier grade earlier this season when he was one of a number of less experienced referees to be graded by members of the national council’s rules and interpretations board.