Aaron Payne Cup: Cairns ref Guy Millar to referee grand final
The first Cairns referee to officiate the grand final of the Aaron Payne Cup will use the last 24 hours before kick-off to make sure he’s ready for the biggest game of his career.
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The first Cairns referee to officiate the grand final of the Aaron Payne Cup will use the last 24 hours before kick-off to make sure he’s ready for the biggest game of his career.
Guy Millar has been a referee for the past six years, but after strong performances in the past four weeks has earned the right to brandish the whistle in Wednesday’s highly-anticipated Aaron Payne Cup final in Townsville.
Kirwan State High School will clash with Ignatius Park College in the all-Townsville grand final, and while there are several Cairns products on either end of the field, the man in the middle is a proud product of the Far North.
The 19-year-old made his Mal Meninga Cup debut last year and has been involved in several Cairns District Rugby League A-grade games, but the deciding game of the elite North Queensland schools rugby league competition is the biggest game he’s controlled so far.
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“There hasn’t really been many standout referees coming through Cairns over the last decade or so but it’s so good to be able to represent Cairns,” Millar said.
“Especially because it's a North Queensland competition, not having any representation from Cairns previously, it feels good to hopefully set a good example for more referees and juniors coming through.”
Millar has officiated several games throughout the Aaron Payne Cup, including Iggy Park’s shock 24-8 win against the defending national champion Kirwan Bears just two weeks ago.
The schools, which have produced plenty of current North Queensland Cowboys over the years including Michael Morgan (Iggy Park), Valentine Holmes (Iggy Park) and Cairns product Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Kirwan), will again feature a number of teenage Cowboys-contracted players.
Millar is well aware of the talent, and while he’s confident he can maintain the pace of the game, his biggest challenge may be to keep up with the fleet-footed backs if they find some space.
“There’s a few quick ones out there,” Millar said.
“I’ve refereed men up here for a few years now so I’m comfortable with the speed of the game, but when there’s an intercept I’m struggling to chase down a few of those fellas. I think I’m pretty well prepared for it.”
CLEAR FOCUS THE APPROACH
GUY Millar will spend more time on his preparation than there is minutes in the grand final.
The travel will mean he heads south early to ensure he has enough time to get his head in the game before kick-off.
“You don’t want to get out of the car and get straight onto the field,” Millar said. “I’ll try to get there nice and early on Wednesday, check into the hotel, get something to eat and focus that last couple of hours to get the mind right and focus on what I have to do.
“I don’t want to get my head stuck into a law book before the game because I’ll be thinking about it too much.
“I like to be by myself or throwing a footy around, something like that. Just focusing on what I need to do when I’m on the field to make things go smoothly.”
The Cairns Post will stream the final live on Wednesday. Go to cairnspost.com.au/sport to watch the main game at 2.45pm.
Originally published as Aaron Payne Cup: Cairns ref Guy Millar to referee grand final