After six seasons at the helm, RLEF Match Officials Manager Steve Davis has decided to relinquish his post. Davis, the Federation’s inaugural match officials chief, will return to his native Sydney having spent the last 13 years in England.

“My time with the RLEF has been extremely rewarding and I am very pleased to know that after my departure the systems we’ve implemented will continue to improve the standards of match official development among our member nations,” he said. “European rugby league has progressed to a point that is unrecognisable to when I joined the RLEF in 2007. I leave knowing that a large number of member nations are now qualified to internally deliver match officials development.”

Davis was responsible for coordinating the appointments of match officials to RLEF competitions, facilitating education courses, assessing performance and, from 2011, writing and delivering the match official strand of the RLEF Technical Strategy. He has also championed the advancement of Continental match officials into official RLEF competition, a trend that is set to continue, thereby enhancing the European dimension of the Federation and the sport itself.

RLEF General Manager Danny Kazandjian praised Davis’s contribution. “Steve has played a huge but largely un-publicised part in European rugby league’s continuing development,” he said. “He has always demonstrated first class leadership, is highly respected by all his peers and is singularly responsible for creating the foundation on which all future European match official development will thrive.”

Recent graduate Holland’s Jason Bruygoms was keen to credit Davis’s role.  “The endless knowledge Steve has of the game is amazing,” he added, “and his ability to explain the laws to those who are new to it is truly inspiring."

The RLEF will advertise for applicants for the Match Officials Manager role in due course.

Pictured: Steve Davis (left) with Dutch and Belgian match official tutors.