On 2nd September at the Athletic Ground former Harlequins’ scrum-half Karl Dickson took charge of his first game as a professional referee when London Scottish faced Yorkshire Carnegie. Just three months prior he played his last game for Harlequins at the World Clubs 10s in Mauritius however the road to the next chapter in his rugby career started well before that.
Three years ago his former team mate Will Skinner mentioned that he was going to take look at refereeing and the idea also appealed to the man who finished his club career with 167 appearances for the Harlequins. Following a quick phone call, the then Premiership scrum-half put the wheels in motion to sort his refereeing course out and officiated his first game on a Sunday afternoon for a group of U16s. Sitting with Wayne Barnes yesterday in Twickenham Stadium Karl recalled that there were a few shocked looks on the players' faces when he arrived up for that first game however he quickly reminded the lads not to worry about him and to get on with their rugby! They did and from there his career with a whistle in hand started.
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Juggling the demands of professional rugby while developing as a referee wasn’t easy and like others such as Ugo Monye and Nick Kennedy he could have carried on playing for another season or so but the opportunity to pursue life as a professional referee was simply ‘too good to pass up’. The final years of his rugby career often included playing and officiating in the same weekend and he believes that he changed ‘massively’ as a player once he’d picked up the whistle and was in the early stages of learning his trade as a referee. While he did continue to be his usual vocal self, after all that’s part of the scrum-half job description, as you'd expect he found a new level of respect for those that were taking charge of his matches.
One of the interesting elements that Karl spoke about at Twickenham Stadium was the fitness element to his transition. For him one of the biggest eye openers when moving into his new career was just how fit referees are;
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“As a player on average I covered about seven or seven and a bit km and as a referee I now reach about 8.5km to 9km per match. The biggest difference [fitness wise] is that as a rugby player you’re doing big weights and you’re running. Whereas as a referee you’re doing weights to prevent injury and then conditioning.
“The referees are a lot fitter than players, I can tell you that for a fact now. If you took the 14 of us [referees] and put us against a load of the players then the referees are way above them because it’s a different type of fitness. But if you asked the referees to get up and down off the ground, ruck and tackle, it’s totally different. That was kind of my biggest ‘wow’ seeing that they [referees] are so much fitter than we were and I’m trying to get up to speed with these guys.”
It’s a great insight into one element of his transition from playing to officiating because I’m sure that most would have expected him to breeze the fitness element to his new professional role. Instead it’s an area of real focus and development to push himself to the top of the standings when it comes the officials' fitness tests and S&C training that they undertake as a group.
As mentioned the 35-year-old didn’t just decide yesterday to become a referee instead he’s put in the hours, on and off the field, and is continuing to do so to learn his new craft. Without question the natural drive to succeed that can be found in professional sportspeople will hold him in good stead in this next chapter and he’s well aware of the development that’s needed from this point on;
“It’s like any job that you're in, you’ll start at the bottom, like when I was referring that U16 game for example, and you move up according to how people think that you’re performing.
“It is the same that this stage, I’m in the Championship now and they’ll move me when they think that I’m ready. Or if I’m not ready then I won’t be moved. It’s performance based and you’ve got ten full time referees all vying for six Premiership games in a weekend or six Championship games. So if you’re up there in the top six then you’ll be refereeing and if you’re not you’ll be doing other things.
“Every ref, I imagine like I do, wants to referee international games. That’s the pinnacle just like every player wants to play international rugby. It’s about the process of how you get up the ladder and some people don’t make it and that’s just the nature of competition.”
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Without question it’s great see such a high-profile former Premiership player moving into the world of officiating. At this moment in time there will be a group of current professional players that are considering their next steps after rugby and as a result of Karl’s transition into refereeing I hope that some may consider to follow the same path too. Media and coaching are two clear ways to stay immersed in the world of rugby and perhaps now the world of officiating will push itself into players’ consideration sets given Karl’s move. Of course just because individuals have succeeded on the field as players doesn’t mean that they will automatically be outstanding officials. However having such detailed knowledge of playing the game provides a phenomenal base to work from and if individuals take to it and showcase the specific skills and mindset required then there’s no question our game will be better for more former players following Karl's route.
So what’s next for the game’s newest professional referee? Well this weekend it’s a trip to Jersey to run the line as the Reds host the Cornish Pirates in the Championship. At the time when it was announced that the former Harlequin would join the RFU’s team of professional match officials Tony Spreadbury highlighted him as an ‘exciting prospect’. From here on it’s about Karl building his experience game by game using the support of Tony, his professional referee coach Wayne Barnes and the other match officials around him. With his drive, commitment and trajectory of development thus far the future looks promising, so keep your eyes open because I’m sure that it won’t be too long before you see the words 'Referee: Karl Dickson' at an Aviva Premiership game near you.
