Referee Round-up: Celebrating 25 years of Steve Kanowski

Referee Steve Kanowski will this year notch up a milestone unlikely to be seen again.

When he runs onto the field at North Ipswich Reserve on Saturday March 19 - as one of the touch judges for the Round 1 Hostplus Cup clash between Ipswich and Northern Pride - he will be entering an incredible 25th year of officiating at the top level of the state league.

The referees who will be with him – Jacob Whitehouse and Jordan Morel – were just two-years-old when Kanowski made his debut as a touch judge in Cup, running the line for a Toowoomba and Wynnum match in 1997.

But 2022 won’t just be significant for Kanowski due to how long he’s been in the game. It will also be significant because it will be his last year refereeing.

 

As he achieves this massive milestone, he knows it’s also time to hang up the whistle.

“I’ll be savouring every opportunity this year, that’s for sure,” Kanowski said of the massive season ahead.

“I feel incredibly old, obviously. When I did my first game in Cup I was 19. I never thought I’d still be running around at this age.

“I’m pretty proud. The role itself has evolved so much over the years. It hasn’t been a case of doing the same thing year in, year out. It’s evolved and adapted and I’ve been able to be flexible and adapt with it.

“I’ve been humbled by the attention and that people are acknowledging this… I feel as though I get more out of the game than I’ve given to it.

“This is my last year. I wanted to make sure I identified early on when I was going to finish so it wasn’t a case of me finishing because I no longer had the passion, but it’s me finishing on my terms and savouring every moment.”

One of the main reasons Kanowski is retiring is so the school principal can study a doctorate of education and also spend more time with his wife Jess and daughters, Charlotte, 14, and Evelyn, two.

And while he will miss the game, he is grateful to have had the time he has had.

As a self-proclaimed “hardcore rugby league fan”, the 44-year-old knew officiating could bring him closer to the game, without actually playing it.

Especially since he doesn’t believe he was any good at the playing aspect.

“I was never going to make it as a rugby league player,” Kanowski said.

“I can’t catch, I can’t tackle. But I’m a fan of the game and through this I have an opportunity to be closer than the people on the sideline.

“Growing up I was a Souths (Brisbane) fan, so to officiate games with teams of that prestige was pretty great.

“As someone who loved the game, the opportunity to be involved at that elite level week in, week out, it’s something I’m really grateful for.”

It will be Hostplus Cup’s Country Week in mid-July that marks exactly 25 years for Kanowski, whose career highlights include the five Cup grand finals – with the favourite being the 2012 decider between Redcliffe and Wynnum.

He said that match was not just a personal best effort from him, but also current Queensland Rugby League state match officials manager, Clayton Sharpe.

During his career he has been supported by many people, but said the likes of former QRL refereeing mentors Richie Johnson, Eddie Ward and John Topp were some of his greatest influences and those he felt had really advocated for him during the past 25 years.

He said there was no real secret to his longevity, but as a triathlete, fitness was a major contributing factor, as was his continued love of officiating at the state level.

“Being physically fit and maintaining fitness is definite a key part of it all,” Kanowski said.

“But it’s also about not getting caught up in the achievements and being grateful for the opportunities.

“I think a lot of people reach their ceiling of performance and when they don’t officiate in the NRL, they’ve given the game away.

“While I would have loved to have done that, I was just grateful for the opportunity week in, week out to be where I was.”

Kanowski’s contribution to officiating in Queensland is so significant that Sharpe doesn’t know if we’ll ever see someone meet this milestone again.

He said Kanowski is someone who gives more to the game than just his expected duties with the High Performance Unit and as an official.

“This is a testament to Steve’s dedication and resilience,” Sharpe said.

“Steve has been able to not only compete physically for 25 seasons at a semi-professional level, but he has developed and adapted his skillset to accommodate the evolving nature of officiating. 

“Steve offers more to the HPU, and officiating in general, than fulfilling his weekly appointment.

“He not only leads by example through his physical preparation and effort, but gives back through coaching of community and development-level match officials, and sharing his knowledge around mindset and mental preparation.”

Steve Kanowski’s achievements

• Cup touch judge debut – July 12, 1997
• Cup referee debut - August 6, 2005. Debut No.43
• Cup grand final touch judge - 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014
• Queensland v NSW Residents touch judge - 2011, 2014, 2015
• Queensland City v Country touch judge - 2005, 2006, 2010
• Life member - Gladstone Referees Association

Referees support the Support Squad

The Queensland Rugby League’s community wellbeing program, Support Squad, has received a strong endorsement from the Sunshine State’s referees.

QRL South East wellbeing operations manager Dayne Weston said he was blown away when he was sent a picture of two referees wearing their new shirts at an Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup game in Maryborough – and the Support Squad name and colours were emblazoned all over them.

“It was a bit of a shock at first,” Weston said.

“I always knew the Support Squad was going to go on the referee shirts, but I didn’t how big and prominent it was going to be.

“I’m really proud to see that we can expose this new initiative in this way. To have it out there, it’s really humbling.

“We just need people asking questions and the whole idea behind improving our mental health and wellbeing is through speaking.

“If we can have these conversations directed from the referees and have people asking what is the Support Squad, what are they about, well, that’s a positive that’s going to come from it.”

Gold Coast development camp

The development of Queensland’s referees continues to go from strength to strength, with the Gold Coast Rugby League Referees Association holding a development camp in early March.

Involving rookie referees to seasoned officials, the camp was held over two nights from Friday, March 4 at Tallebudgera and included a number of indoor and outdoor sessions to boost officiating in the region.

They covered topics such as rule interpretations, judiciary, conflict resolutions, touch judge drills and skills, vocabulary and signals, and were treated to a question and answer session with officials from the High Performance Unit.

GCRLRA secretary Heath Zygnerski said they came up with the idea midway through 2021 to devote more time to working with their referees after struggling to find enough times for regular meetings.

It was the first camp of this kind that GCRLRA have delivered and Zygnerski said it had been met with plenty of positivity from the 32 officials who attended.

“The reception has been fantastic,” Zygnerski said.

“It’s been an overwhelming success. We had a really high emphasis on fun and everyone really, really enjoyed it.”