Long-time Northland rugby ref hangs up whistle due to abuse

A long-serving Northland rugby referee says he's hanging up the whistle, because he's sick and tired of sideline abuse.

New Zealand Rugby says it's doing its best to tackle the issue, but it admits it's not going away.

After 12 years in charge of the whistle, Gavin Benney now watches rugby from the sidelines.

Mr Benney says he always did his best but he's been worn down by the abuse.

"You come off and you've done our best like the players do but the spectators don't accept that, and it's just, 'You've missed this, you've done this, you've done that, you've cheated,' and it just wears you down."

Mr Benney says during years of service to Northland rugby, he and others have tried to change the way officials are treated. In recent weeks he told a spectator in Dargaville to quiet down and he hoped for more support.

There are currently 50 referees in Northland but they are always trying to recruit more young people, which Mr Benney says is difficult due to the worry around the abuse they too might receive.

It's a problem recognised by the union, who says supporters should consider the future of the sport in Northland.

In recent years New Zealand Rugby and its unions have launched a number of initiatives to curb poor behaviour. That included an undercover sting, with former All Black Victor Vito copping abuse himself from supporters.

NZR community rugby manager Trevor Howard says behaviour programmes have had "some" impact; regions including Northland now have codes of conduct for watching matches.

He says losing the referees is not what they want.

"For us it's a concern. We wouldn't have as many referees as we would like to have, and losing them is not what we want."

Mr Benney says young people shouldn't be put off completely, but believes it's time people gave the referee a fair go.

"We play the game and we referee the game to enjoy it, and it's just not enjoyable for a lot of people these days."

Newshub.