Scott Young - The Whistleblower
Some of the best referees rarely get noticed. And even if they make the right call, they’re likely to suffer abuse from crowds and players alike. With experience officiating over the highest levels of play, Scott Young is a veteran ref who can attest to being sworn at in several foreign languages. As today’s guest, we speak to Scott about our great sport and his career as a match official. After sharing his humble start as a referee — something he agreed to do at a pub — we talk about how referees train to keep up with players. We then dive into Scott’s career highlights, referee accreditation, and the elements that make up a good referee. He reveals some challenges in being a referee before commenting on Australia’s referee successes, including the rise of women referees. With new rugby rules and variations, we discuss how referees adapt to change and why Scott likes the 50:22 rule. Following the topic of rule changes, we ask Scott about the state of the scrum and his answer provides insight into how difficult scrums are to rule on. We touch on why referees can be over-technical, Scott’s perspective on blue and yellow cards, how the press amplifies incorrect information, and the level of support offered to Australian referees. Near the end of the episode, we explore Scott’s role in developing strategies for sevens rugby before we ask Scott what he would do to improve rugby. Tune in to hear more of Scott’s views on high-performance refereeing.
Key Points From This Episode:
- How Scott became a match official and what he loves about refereeing.
- Training, fitness and decision-making ability as a high-performance referee.
- Hear about the highlights of Scott’s refereeing career.
- Referee accreditation and the importance of progressive learning.
- Challenges to growing the number of match officials.
- How referees are adapting to new rugby rules and variations.
- Why Scott likes the new 50:22 rule; it increases the ball-in-play time.
- Tracking referee success and the many aspects that go into judging a game.
- Establish a World Cup standard for interpreting rugby laws.
- What referees look for in a scrum and how it can remain a showpiece.
- Why referees can be overly-technical in their decision-making.
- Maintaining respect among players and referees.
- Why referees don’t aim to be loved.
- Scott’s support of the blue card and the dangers of concussion.
- Using yellow cards to prevent ‘cynical’ play and keep the game safe.
- Supporting officials and coming under fire after making high-stakes decisions.
- Investing in referee coach programs; there are now more Australian refs fielded overseas than ever before.
- Refereeing sevens versus 15 a side rugby and Scott’s contributions to each game’s officiating strategies.
- What Scott would change in rugby to cause the most impact.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
