Barry Seymour Gomersall (1945–2007) was an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

referee. Gomersall refereed six rugby league internationals and nine

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...

matches. Nicknamed "the Grasshopper", Gomersall was known for his thin legs inside tight shorts and his habit of ignoring on-field fights. First appointed to referee State of Origin by the Queensland Rugby League in 1982, Gomersall was often accused by New South Wales supporters of bias. A reporter from New South Wales once asked: "How do you account for the fact that in your nine matches Queensland won seven and NSW won only two?", Gomersall was said to have replied "Well, surely anyone's entitled to two bad games." Gomersall placed a high priority on personal fitness saying "if someone is going to score a try, I want to be there first". Gomersall was a long time

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

employee. After his refereeing career, Gomersall entered Queensland politics, standing for the

electoral district of Mirani An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

in five elections. Barry Gomersall died in Sarina in central Queensland on 9 February 2007 Courier Mail: Death Notice 10/2/2007 from prostate cancer aggravated by collision with livestock on his farm.

References

1945 births 2007 deaths People from Queensland Australian rugby league referees Deaths from prostate cancer {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1940s-stub