The Hellenic Federation of Rugby League has hosted a four-day match officials tutor-training event in Athens as part of the EU-supported Leadership Devolution Project. The course was attended by match officials from Greece, Hungary and Italy. RLEF Match Official Development squad members Thierry Alibert and Rale Novakovic oversaw the activity with Rugby League Ireland’s Jason Craughwell, himself a graduate of a previous RLEF training project, gaining further on-the-job experience as an assessor of match official tutors.

Greek trio Aris Dardamanis, George Stilianos and Dimitrios Minadakis, who all attended the first round of training in Piacenza in June, delivered a Level 1 course to 14 new Greek match officials, while Hungarian duo Zsolt Lukacs and Balint Mezes and Italy’s Ciprian Gajulete and Guido Bonatti also received more practical training in delivery of the course.

“Having already received training in Italy, I felt really well prepared,” said Stilianos. “But this time to have a referee of Thierry Alibert's calibre on board to help us was a huge bonus. We learned a lot and were able to build on our existing knowledge of the game.  We had a great turnout on the day too - I am looking forward to having capable and qualified touch judges by my side now every time I referee. It will be a great help to me and the other referees and, in turn, to the quality of our league.”

Following the Level 1 course, the tutor-trainees were all deployed to officiate or assess officials in a friendly fixture between Pegasus and AEK, with Greek, Hungarian and Italian officials all taking turns in the middle, while Alibert finished off the match.

 “This weekend has opened my eyes to the wonderful work that is being done around Europe to promote rugby league, and that we are at the beginning of something special,” said Ireland’s Craughwell. “I am excited to be involved at a time when the international game and the development of match officials has reached a level where meaningful competitions are available to players, referees and touch judges."

Pictured: Thierry Alibert puts the tutor-trainees through their paces.