Belinda Sharpe

Belinda Sharpe née Sleeman is an Australian rugby league referee and former journalist, and is the first woman to referee a first-grade match in the National Rugby League (NRL).[1]

Sharpe was born and grew up in Rockhampton, Queensland, where she worked as a sports reporter at The Morning Bulletin.[2][3][4] She took up officiating in rugby league when she was 18.[5] The first match Sharpe ever refereed was an under-8's fixture at Gracemere.[4]

After officiating at various levels of rugby league in Queensland, Sharpe became the first women to be an official at an NRL game when she was one of the touch judges for the match between Wests Tigers and Cronulla Sharks in the last round of the 2014 NRL season.[6][7]

At the start of the 2019 season Sharpe was one of two women, the other being Kasey Badger, to be given full-time referee contracts by the NRL. She took charge of her first match involving an NRL team when she was one of the two match referees in Brisbane Broncos' pre-season game against Wynnum Manly.[7] In her 100th match as an NRL official Sharpe became the first woman to referee a full NRL match in the round 18 game between Brisbane Broncos and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on 18 July 2019 at Suncorp Stadium alongside Ben Cummins.[8][9]

Sharpe has also refereed the 2019 Women's State of Origin and has been a touch judge in several international games including the 2017 Rugby League World Cup tournament and the Tonga v Fiji test match in 2017.[8]

In 2022, Sharpe was appointed as the main referee for the Women's Rugby League World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia.[10]

On 1 September 2023, Sharpe became the first woman to referee an NRL match under the single referee system when she controlled the game between Manly Sea Eagles and West Tigers.[11]

References
  1. Pengilly, Adam (15 July 2019). "'Little bit surprised': NRL appoints first female referee". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  2. Hendry, Megan (11 October 2017). "History-making appointment for first woman to officiate Rugby League World Cup". ABC News. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  3. Hart, Chloe (16 July 2019). "NRL appoints Belinda Sharpe as first woman to referee top-grade men's rugby league match". ABC News. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  4. "From under-8's at Gracemere to making history at Suncorp]". The Morning Bulletin. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  5. "NRL's First Female Touchy". Triple M NRL. 3 September 2014. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015.
  6. "Telstra Premiership: Round 26 – Saturday 26th September 2014". West Tigers. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  7. "'Step in the right direction': Broncos match to make history with female referee". The Guardian. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  8. "Belinda Sharpe Referee". NRL. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  9. "'Pioneer' Belinda Sharpe reacts to becoming NRL's first female match referee". Nine Network. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  10. Kennedy, Euan (16 November 2022). "Referees for World Cup finals announced with clean sweep confirmed". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  11. Hogan, Kelsey (1 September 2023). "Sea Eagles end season in style to celebrate Trbojevic's 200th". National Rugby League. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
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