Colin Frederick Pearce (1917 – 10 June 2004) was an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. He is one of the most widely known and widely respected referees in the history of rugby league. Pearce, born in

Newtown, New South Wales Newtown, a suburb of Inner West, Sydney's inner west, is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the Local government areas of New South Wales, local government areas of the City of Sy ...

, was originally more interested in

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

but that changed to rugby league due to his fascination with the rules and interpretations of the rules of rugby league. He began refereeing in 1946, he was promoted to the first grade fixtures towards the end of the 1947 season. He then took charge of nine test matches between 1960 and 1967, three World Cup matches in 1968 and six Grand Finals, his first being in 1955, and then the others between 1964 and 1968. He enjoyed a career of 343 first grade games. He was authoritative yet he allowed the game to flow. He had a keen relationship with the players where they would show him respect due to his fair and consistent decision making. His motto was that rugby league referees should "eat, sleep and drink the rules of rugby league" He was elected to the Rugby League Referee's Examination Board in 1951. After his retirement from rugby league refereeing, he had a long career as a rugby league commentator in the Sydney electronic and print media, with

2UE 2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales. History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the P ...

, Channel 7 and

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

. Pearce later became a journalist, writing featured columns for ''

The Sun-Herald ''The Sun-Herald'' is an Australian newspaper published in tabloid or compact format on Sundays in Sydney by Nine Entertainment. It is the Sunday counterpart of the ''Sydney Morning Herald''. In the six months to September 2005, ''The Sun-H ...

''. Pearce died from pneumonia on 10 June 2004, aged 86.

Grand finals – match reports

1955,

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Col 1917 births Sportspeople from Sydney Australian rugby league referees 2004 deaths Rugby League World Cup referees 20th-century Australian journalists