John Percival (rugby league)
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John Percival was a New Zealand rugby league referee. An international referee, in 1995 Percival was one of the New Zealand Rugby League's inaugural inductions into the "Legends of League".
Domestic career[edit]
Percival was from the Point Chevalier Pirates club and played for the 1947 Schoolboy Kiwi side.[1]
He took up refereeing in 1956 and controlled matches in the Auckland Rugby League competition. By 1960 he was receiving provincial appointments.[1] He earned a reputation for being a dominant and "eagle-eyed" referee.[2]
Percival is credited with innovating the penalty for backchat as he regularly used to march teams for the offence before it was added to the official rulebook.[1]
The Auckland Rugby League's Referee of the Year award is named the "John Percival Memorial Premiership Referee of the Year" in recognition of Percival's service to the game.[3]
International career[edit]
His first Test match was in 1964 when the French toured New Zealand. Percival controlled 27 internationals between 1964 and 1980, the most for a New Zealand official. This included nine matches in the 1968 and 1975 World Cups. In 1995 Percival was one of the inaugural inductees onto the NZRL's Legends of League.[4] He is an Auckland Rugby League Immortal.[5]
Later years[edit]
Percival was involved on the board of the Auckland Warriors in 1995 while they were owned by the Auckland Rugby League.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Lion Red 1988 Rugby League Annual, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1988. p.81
- ^ "Graham Lowe: Sonny and Bill". The New Zealand Herald. 1 October 2004. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
- ^ November 2009 Newsletter Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine Auckland Rugby League
- ^ Legends of League New Zealand Rugby League
- ^ Stacey Jones, Auckland Rugby League Immortal Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine est1995.co.nz, 21 September 2003