FOLLOWING the completion of the first round of the new GRFC season, I wanted to provide a bit of guidance and clarification for all clubs taking part in the GRFC competition.

Firstly, if any game does not have an official referee appointed to the game then the home club is to appoint a match official.  Whoever the club has appointed has the same responsibility and abilities as an official referee.  This means that they are required to ensure team sheets are provided prior to kickoff and completed at the end of the game.

In junior games the registration ID cards are also required to be provided prior to kickoff.  If a junior team does not have the registration ID card for a player (the card must include the name, age, FFV ID number, and photo) then the particular player cannot be allowed to play.  This is FFV’s “No Card, No Play” policy.

The team sheets (and registration ID cards for junior games) must be submitted to the match official 30 minutes prior to kickoff.  The 30 minutes is to allow the match official time to check the team sheets and have errors corrected (if any) prior to kickoff.

While it may not be enforced by a club official there is also the issue of kit clashes.  Attached is a document which should help each club understand the requirements.  You will notice the document is dated 2013 however I believe it is still relevant.  Basically, the outfield players of Team A must not have a colour clash with the outfield players of Team B and the referee, plus, each goalkeeper must not have a colour clash with the outfield players of both teams, the opposing goalkeeper and the referee.  It is the responsibility of the away team to change their kit if there is a colour clash (whether it is the outfield players or goalkeeper).

As for the game, the appointed club official has the ability to caution players (yellow and red cards) where it is warranted.  The concern with this is there may be some complaint/arguments regarding bias or favouritism if the appointed club official were to caution a player from their opposing team.  Considering the rules of competition allow the interchange system to be used I would suggest a better method of player management may be the club official approaches the coach of the offending player and suggest he/she be interchanged to “cool off”.  This is obviously only a suggestion in player management as there will be some circumstances which would require strict punishment for fouls committed.

Further to this each club was made aware last year that at every game (junior and senior) there must be two (2) marshalls provided (one from each team) to escort the match official on and off the field of play as well as remain during the game to help with any issues regarding spectators.  I was made aware of a junior game during round one where a club official was officiating the game and some parents had apparently entered the field of play.  This is not acceptable when there is an official referee so there should be no reason why it would be accepted any other time and it is for these types of scenarios that the marshalls are warranted.

The best and fairest voting also may be completed at the end of the game.  This is done online (FFV Geelong website) and again, the appointed club official can submit this information.  In order to do so the club official will require the team sheets for both the teams.

All of the above information is available in the 2016 Club Handbook and 2016 Rules of Competition, which each club can access.  I’m hoping to attend the next GRFC meeting so that I can raise and possibly answer some questions regarding this information so if it could also be added as an agenda item I would appreciate it.  At this stage I would most likely be a late attendee for the meeting.

Steve Kolar

Geelong Referees Branch Administrator