Steve Clark (referee)

Infobox rugby league biography
playername = Steve Clark
fullname = Steven Clark

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caption =
dateofbirth =
placeofbirth = flagicon|AUS New South Wales
countryofbirth = Australia
height =
weight =
refereecomp1 = NSWRL/ARL/NRL
refereeyear1start = 1992
refereeyear1end = 2007
refereeappearances1 = 314
refereecomp2 = City vs Country Origin
refereeyear2start = 2005
refereeyear2end =
refereeappearances2 = 1
refereecomp3 = State of Origin
refereeyear3start = 1999
refereeyear3end = 2006
refereeappearances3 = 5
refereecomp4 = Test matches
refereeyear4start = 1996
refereeyear4end = 2006
refereeappearances4 = 8
refereecomp5 = Rugby League World Cup
refereeyear5start = 2000
refereeyear5end =
refereeappearances5 = 2
source =

Steve Clark (born in New South Wales) is a former Australian professional referee in the National Rugby League competition.

NRL career

Clark made his first grade debut in the match between Parramatta Eels and the Newcastle Knights, at Parramatta Stadium on 31 May 1992. In 2007, Clark reached the 300 first grade game barrier becoming only the third referee to do so. At the time of his retirement, only Bill Harrigan with 393 games and Col Pearce with 343 games had refereed more matches than him.cite news|first=Dean|last=Ritchie|title=Clark puts down the whistle|url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22521639-5006066,00.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=2007-10-03|accessdate=2007-10-04]

Representative honours

Clark made his representative refereeing debut in 1996, when he officiated the Test match between Great Britain and New Zealand.

In 2005, he controlled in his one and only City vs Country Origin match at Northpower Stadium in Gosford.

Clark made his first State of Origin appearance in 1999, refereeing two matches including the first ever drawn match in Game III. He didn't referee again until the 2005 series where he was appointed to Game II. In the following series he controlled Games II and III.

Controversy

Steve Clark has been accused by St. George Illawarra Dragons coach Nathan Brown of bias against the St. George Illawarra Dragons team in 2006, based on a perceived tendency to award dubious penalties against St. George Illawarra Dragons. Brown was subsequently fined $15000 for making these comments. cite news|first=Will|last=Swanton|title=How the Dragons called the tune and scored their favourite whistleblower|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/how-the-dragons-called-the-tune-and-scored-their-favouritewhistleblower/2006/08/12/1154803147636.html|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=2006-06-13|accessdate=2008-05-14] . An example of such a controversial penalty awarded against St. George Illawarra Dragons was in the Round 9 2008 game between Parramatta Eels and St. George Illawarra Dragons, where a 32nd minute try to Jason Nightingale was disallowed by the video referee Steve Clark due to an alleged strip of the ball by Matt Cooper earlier. Even the referee Sean Hampstead remarked "That was a tough decision Clarky" cite news|title=CEels pip 'unfortunate' Dragons|url=http://news.leaguehq.com.au/sport/eels-pip-unfortunate-dragons-1918-20080511-2czq.html|work=League HQ|date=2008-05-11|accessdate=2008-05-14] .

References

Persondata
NAME=Clark, Steve
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian rugby league referee
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=New South Wales, Australia
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=