Wyatt Raymond: ‘A childhood dream comes true 6pm Friday’
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No one has been able to wipe the smile of match official Wyatt Raymond's face since he was appointed to referee his first NRL game on Friday.
Originally a member of the Townsville and Districts Rugby League Referees Association, Raymond packed up his life in Queensland in 2021 to head to Sydney to become a full-time NRL match official. To chase his dream of "having the best seat in the house" in the middle.
On Friday he will realise that dream when he referees the Round 6 clash between Melbourne Storm and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Raymond said he was “stoked” to get the call from NRL elite officiating general manager Jared Maxwell.
“He asked me how I was, I said ‘good’ and then he said ‘are you good enough to ref first grade this weekend?’ and I said ‘absolutely’,” Raymond said.
The physiotherapist said the appointment “means a childhood dream comes true at 6pm on Friday”, with his parents Paul and Jodi, partner Tyla, friends from Townsville, first refereeing mentor Chris Nitsopoulos and “the great Eddie Ward” among those making the trek to cheer him on.
“Ever since I took up the whistle and a few people said I could make something of it, it's always been the goal and the dream as a 14, 15-year-old kid and that hasn’t changed… can’t wait,” Raymond said.
The 27-year-old said he called his parents straight away and they were “over the moon”.
“Your parents can be very bias at certain points in time so they’ve been a little bit impatient or floating the idea longer than I have been, so they were very happy to get the call,” Raymond said.
“They were very ecstatic... mum was proud and emotional; dad was amped and excited.”
Raymond said his officiating journey began “as a useless winger for a really good team, who could goal kick” and landed him as QRL match official #65 and NRL match official #156.
“I goal kicked quite a lot as a kid and obviously with referees standing at the mark of goal kicking, the local ref, Thomas Dungavell, who was the president last year of the Townsville refs, floated the idea of giving refereeing a crack,” Raymond said, adding when he gave up playing in 2011 “because everyone was getting massive”, he picked up the whistle.
“In 2012 I went to state under 12s with John Topp and a few other coaches and that’s when I realised that maybe it was something I could give a red-hot crack.”
Raymond said there had been many highlights along the way including touch judging during the 2023 NRL finals series, touch judging the men’s semi-final at the 2023 World Cup at Elland Road and the women’s final at Old Trafford.
“Refereeing-wise, it would be the game I did on grand final day last year, the NRL State Championship… I haven’t had the opportunity to referee a Cup grand final but obviously doing that game where the winners play from New South Wales and Queensland on grand final day, it was pretty unreal.... to be part of that day was pretty special,” Raymond said.
For the past few years the former QRL High Performance Unit squad member has spent “full-time hours, if not more” working on his craft including preparing for games through training, travelling, reviewing his own games, watching and cutting vision, and helping young Queenslanders review their games.
Raymond said his goal for Friday was “to have fun and enjoy the moment”, adding it would be extra special with fellow Queenslander and good mate Brough one of the touch judges.
“Everything that goes towards it… there’s lots of sacrifices, not only on my own side of the coin, but more so from other people, the training and the commitment…I just want to go out and enjoy it and not change anything and come off with a really positive memory of my first shot in the middle," Raymond said.
Raymond said the Queensland pathway was critical to the success he was seeing.
“It’s absolutely critical… it was the foundation of why I am where I am today,” Raymond said.
“For a young and up-and-coming ref, the pathway is so clear and obvious in front of you now… you're given all the tools, the opportunities to have a crack and make the most of it.
“If you want to get to the level of a Cup referee, you know exactly what four to five grades you have to get through and get through well to get to that next level. And then once you're there then you’re in the vision and eye line of people in the NRL and you get your next crack from there.
“The foundation and framework is there for any kid who takes up a whistle to get to first grade and referee NRL.”
Raymond said he was not looking too far forward, in terms of his goals.
“I want to take the opportunity… I’m on the more inexperienced, younger side compared to my peers… I just want to have a lasting, positive career and enjoy every single game that I get and treat it like my last,” Raymond said.
“There's been some pretty amazing people go before me and they'll be better people after me as well… I just want to go week to week and build on every performance.
“As much as refereeing in the NRL is special, so is touch judging and I've done that week in, week out for three years and I still love running out there, so I'll take any opportunity I can get.
“All referees had to be a fan of the game at some point to take up the whistle… it's the best seat in the house and you're in the thick of it. You're hearing the collisions. You're hearing the voices. You're hearing the yelling and the competitiveness between players and communication between players. You're right there in the middle of it and you can actually feel and see how hard these elite athletes are working to put on the spectacle that they put on.
“Being a fan of the game is a huge reason why I love doing what I do.”
QRL officiating high performance manager Andrew Wareham said it was “a fantastic achievement for Wyatt” that had been a long time coming.
Wareham said Raymond, who has refereed 57 Cup games, had a “meteoric rise through the ranks”.
“It’s an absolutely fantastic achievement for him personally, but also for the system that he’s been in,” Wareham said.
“He’s a quality individual, on and off the field. His work ethic is excellent.
“For him, it’s probably the level of detail and the preparation he puts into his game… what he does, also, in helping others through coaching… he’s one of our post-game coaches in our junior rep system… the knowledge he’s learned and the experience he’s gained, he’s able to put back into others, which I think helps him too.
“Wyatt is a quality individual, so I’m really pleased and really proud that not only myself, but a number of our existing match day coaches, have been able to contribute just a small bit to his growth and his success.”
