Wheelchair rugby league player Adam Rigby has got used to being a trailblazer since taking up the sport as a teenager.
And the two-time World Cup winner will create more history on Saturday when he becomes the first person to referee a senior international from a wheelchair.
He will achieve that honour when he takes charge of the match between Scotland and Wales at the three-team Celtic Cup tournament in Cardiff, which also features Ireland.
However, the 32-year-old told My Newspaper Sport that his route into refereeing opened up by accident.
“I was at a competition over in Hull and was challenging a decision that had been made in a game I was watching,” he said.
“One of the lead referees overheard me and said: ‘If you think you can do any better, why don’t you give it a go?’
“It stuck with me and the following day I signed up to do the wheelchair officiating course.
“I had already refereed some friendly games at my club Wigan Warriors, so the interest was there. This was just the push I needed and it came at the right time for me.”
Rigby has been a pioneer of the wheelchair game, taking up the sport in 2006 and helping England win the inaugural 2008 World Cup in Australia and againon home territory in 2022.He also won the 2023 Grand Final with Wigan.
He retired from England duty earlier this month but will still play in the Wheelchair Super League when the new season starts in June.
He says his playing experience has helped him as a referee.
“It has given me the insight into the game that not everyone has,” he said.
“I understand the rhythm of the game, the way the momentum can flip, the tactics and probably the little ‘dark arts’ that players used to try and gain an advantage.
“That experience helps massively, especially when making decisions under pressure.
“Refereeing has taught me to be a better communicator, how to manage situations and personalities out on court, and how to keep control and calm but deliver your message in a firm way.
“It has also made me reflect more on how I play the game – and might have calmed me down a bit. I’m sure some referees will hear that and say: ‘It’s about time!'”
Rigby, who was born with the hereditary condition familial spastic diplegia and has been a wheelchair user since his teens, has also had to learn about on-court positioning and how it differs for officials in a chair compared to those standing.
As well as refereeing Saturday’s opening match, he will be part of the in-goal team for the other two games on the day, in which Ireland take on first Scotland and then Wales.
He is keen to send out a message that there is a place for wheelchair users in every aspect of the sport.
“I’m excited to give back to the game in a whole new way and hopefully I’m going to inspire some others to take up the whistle as well,” he admitted.
“It’s about showing there are opportunities on and off the court and finding the right one for you.
“Over the two decades I’ve been involved, rugby league has given me so much – structure, friendships, pride in pulling the shirts on and some of the best memories that you can really ask for.
“To me, it is more than just a sport and it means the world to me.”
