Leading Super League referee Liam Moore has opened up on the mental strength required to perform at the elite level, disclosing his own toughest moments and the methods he and the RFL match officials use to deal with abuse.
In the first episode of an exclusive new podcast series from the mental fitness charity State of Mind Sport, the World Club Challenge referee discusses the reality of life in the spotlight for one of sport’s most maligned professions, and reveals how the team of match officials support each other on and off the pitch.
Moore tells host George Riley how finding refereeing gave him a purpose, and explains how he is able to thrive in a profession that comes with incessant abuse both in person and online.
“You have got to be pretty mentally strong to shut noise out,” says Moore.
“It is very rare that people are going to actually congratulate referees, praise referees. I don’t go looking for that. I just try to keep away from the noise. The people who review the games in the match officials department – it is their opinion that really matters. You just have to park the noise and that comes with experience and being round the block a bit – understanding how to switch off and go again.
“Being a referee, one thing you are guaranteed to face is adversity. There is a lot of adversity along the way, a lot of disappointments, a lot of errors you will make, difficult conversations and difficult moments. If you can prepare yourself in such a way that you are stable with your home life, you have your people around you that give you unconditional support.
“There are nine of us now within the full-time group and all of us will go through difficult moments, sometimes through no fault of ours, we will be headline news or people will be talking about us. Sharing those experiences and - with some of the younger guys - passing that experience on and being a listening ear. 'I have been through this, I’m possibly going to go through it again, this is how I dealt with it, if you need to talk to somebody talk to me'. You have got to have people around you that you can trust, that is really important for referees because we are on the frontline of it."
In a frank and wide-ranging interview in the first episode of the new SOM Talks series, Moore also reveals the role that refereeing has played in managing his own physical health and urges anyone hurling abuse at officials to stop and think about what they are doing.
“I think most fair-minded people see being a referee as a difficult job. I would just ask that people - if they ever confront themselves with criticism of referees - just try to put yourself in the shoes of the referee, whether that is in the middle of a difficult decision where you have 26 people in fighting, put yourself in that moment and ask yourself if you could do that job. And if the answer is no then maybe give the referee a little bit more breathing room and a bit more understanding.
“When I started refereeing I was at school and carrying a lot of weight,” Moore reveals.
“I was 15 stone when I first started refereeing when I was just ready to leave school. I lost a lot of weight refereeing in a couple of years, over two stone. I knew that the weight I was at I was never going to get any higher than community level. I knew I needed to get fitter to develop as an official, that was one of the motivations to get fit and lose weight.
“A couple of years later fitness was one of my biggest strengths, so I turned a weakness into a real positive. Unless you are fit enough to keep up with players at a certain level you have a glass ceiling, Fitness isn’t everything but it is key to progressing as an official."
SOM Talks: Referees is the brand new series from the award-winning mental health and fitness charity State of Mind Sport.
Hosted by George Riley, each episode explores themes in line with the unique challenges faced by our match officials both on and off the field.
