29 April 2021

New Zealand Rugby League would like to congratulate the following New Zealanders; Anthony Eliott, Chris McMillan, Paki Parkinson and Rochelle Tamarua for being appointed to the newly formed International Match Officials Squad (IMOS).

The International Rugby League (IRL) has announced the International Match Officials Squad (IMOS) will operate underneath the Elite Match Officials Squad (EMOS) and will generally officiate games that do not involve the top four ranked countries.

IMOS has officials from eight different countries which reflects the development of match officials around the world and is the only way to be considered for EMOS in the future is to have officiated as a member of IMOS, there is every incentive for the match officials in this group to perform. 

Rugby League is leading the way by identifying a pathway for match officials which is fully inclusive, with the first three women being selected for IMOS. As a sign of strategic intent to accelerate the opportunities for and development of women officials in international rugby league, IMOS can be expanded to 24 referees, no more than 16 of whom will be men.

On announcing the make-up of the squad, IRL Match Officials Manager Stuart Cummings said:

“This has been a very difficult selection process with a number of candidates just missing out. The squad reflects the level of competitions around the world and the continued improvement in the performance and training of match officials. It is also important that we recognise the great strides made in the development and performance of our female officials by starting to develop their pathway and create more opportunities for them. The squad size will grow as we receive more nominations.”

The IRL International Match Officials Squad is: