In episode twenty of ‘Talking European Rugby League’ Graeme Thompson meets Tom Mather. Tom has been the long-term Match Official Manager for the RLEF. He recounts his own match official career and how he got into becoming 

an educator. He highlights how significant it is for match officials to achieve international debuts, just as it is for the players. He found himself as the sole person in the world "refeering" between Ukraine and Russia in 2014 when they were at war with each other albeit his role was on the Rugby League field in an international match between the two! He gives an insight into how Europe has developed to having a diverse set of match officials across the Confederation including local educators. Finally, he looks to the future and would dearly love to see some of those he has worked with in the last 10 years, progress to World Cup officiating.

https://anchor.fm/rlefofficial/episodes/Talking-European-Rugby-League---Tom-Mather-epstts

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/talking-european-rugby-league/id1469827360