P.N.G. league referee man of his word

Press, 6 July 1988, Page 46

P.N.G. league referee man of his word

By

JOHN COFFEY

Graham Ainui, Papua New Guinea’s top-ranked rugby league referee, does not hold much hope for his countrymen when they oppose the Kiwis in the World Cup match at Carlaw Park, Auckland, on Sunday.

“Lack of size in the forwards will be our biggest disadvantage,” said Mr Ainui in Christchurch earlier this week.

“It will be very hard for them to stop big blokes like Mark Graham running and unloading passes,” he said.

Mr Ainui shook his head sadly when reminded that none of the forwards who shared in Papua New Guinea’s shock 24-22 victory in the first World Cup game at Port Moresby two years ago, remained in the national squad.

"Some of the forwards slackened off after making the big tour to Britain and France last year. But even then they had only two players of my size,” he said. No-one would doubt that Mr Ainui, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, could look eye-to-eye at Graham, or any other international forward.

He brings a command-

ing presence to his position, and proved to be a man of his word when he controlled the top-of-the-table premiership match between Addington and Hornby at the Addington Show Grounds last Sunday. “They can play the game as hard as they like as long as their methods are legal,” said Mr Ainui before the start of the game. “It is my job to make sure they do that.” Unfortunately for the promising young Hornby forward, Paul Woodgate, he was not within earshot of Mr Ainui’s remarks. Midway through the second half, Woodgate went high in a tackle of an opponent and the Papua New Guinea policeman sent him from the field. Mr Ainui will referee in several provinces while in this country as a guest of the New Zealand Rugby League. He might also be appointed to the high schools’ curtain-raiser which precedes the World Cup test between Great Britain and New Zealand in Christchurch on July 17.

Aged 38 and a referee for 14 years, Mr Ainui has been appointed to the Bicentennial match between

Australia and Rest of the World at the Sydney Football Stadium on July 27. That will be the highlight of a career which has already included a home-and-away series between Great Britain and France, and matches in Papua New Guinea between zone and touring teams. Mr Ainui is the first referee from Papua New Guinea to receive such recognition.

“I suppose I am leading the way for our referees. I told them that I was flying a flag, that if I can do it then so can others. Referees, like players, need incentives to seek appointments to big games,” he said.

No matter how the often harsh Australian media rates Mr Ainui, he will not suffer one criticism directed at the Frenchman, Francois Desplas, who has officiated during the current Ashes Cup series. Mr Desplas’s inability to speak English caused communication problems. Mr Ainui will not have that worry, and — as one loose-tongued Frenchman discovered earlier this year — is not totally unfamiliar with the French language.