Congratulations to Steve Clark for officiating a total of 500 NRL games He officiated 314 NRL games as a referee. At the game at Townsville in Round 22, it will be his 186th NRL game as a Video Referee. NRL referee debut 14/3/1998 & Video Referee 16/3/2003

NRL milestones up to 9th July 2012:

Jeff Younis - 200 games (Touch Judge) Round 15 saw the 6th touch judge reach the 200 game milestone in the NRL.

Jeff made a successful switch from the whistle to the flag before making his NRL debut in 2002.

Paul Simpkins - 150 games (Video Referee) Paul began video referee duties in 2004, while an active referee.

Since retiring from on-field refereeing, he has made the transition to full-time life in the video box.

In Round 17 he officiated in his 150th NRL game, to accompany his 284 Central referee appointments.

Tony DeLasHeras - 100 games (Referee) In Round 12,

Tony refereed St George vs Parramatta to bring up his 100th game as a Central Referee.

Tony debuted in Round 19, 2004 and has run 46 NRL touch lines as well.

Jason Walsh - 100 games (Touch Judge) Jason first appeared in the NRL in 2005.

The Round 14 fixture between Newcastle and Canberra marked Walshy's 100th NRL touch line.

Phil Haines - 50 games (Referee) Phil made his NRL debut in 2008.

He passed his 50th game milestone in the Round 18 fixture between Titans and Warriors.

Combined match official appointments

The following squad members have passed combined tally milestones:

Sean Hampstead - 400 games (290 Central & 110 video)

Round 9 Eels vs Bulldogs

Steve Lyons - 250 games (155 Central & 95 TJ)

Round 11 Cowboys vs Panthers

Russell Smith - 150 games (39 Central & 111 Video)

Round 13 Bulldogs vs Rabbitohs

Chris James - 100 games (58 Central & 42 TJ)

Round 9 Rabbitohs vs Sharks

Brett Suttor - 100 games (83 Central & 17 TJ)

Round 17 Warriors vs Cowboys

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State of Origin appointments overview

July 4th saw the conclusion of one of the most exciting SOO series yet.

Ben Cummins was appointed to three SOO centres this year.

Tony Archer refereed two games and Matt Cecchin one.

David Abood and Russell Turner ran the line in the last two games, and Paul Holland and Jeff Younis ran in game one.

In the video box, Steve Clark officiated in two games, while Sean Hampstead, Russell Smith and Paul Simpkins all had one each.

At the conclusion of the series, the SOO archives list the top 5 SOO referees as:

Bill Harrigan (21)Tony Archer (13)David Manson (11)Shayne Hayne (9)Barry Gomersall (8) Statistically,

the top 5 Touch Judges are:Steve Chiddy (15)Steve Carrall (11)Russell Turner (9)Paul Holland & Phil Cooley (8)  

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As of the first 8 Rounds of the 2011 season, a number of NRL match officials have attained milestones in their first grade careers.

Paul Holland
Paul Officiated in his first NRL game in 2001 and his second in 2003. Since then he has become one of the most successful touch judges in the game, participating in all competitions including State of Origin, Internationals and Tests, Four-nations and a number of NRL Grand Finals. In Round 8 he celebrated 250 games as a first grade Touch Judge.

Steve Lyons
Steve made his NRL referee debut in 2001.  After a successful stint as a Touch Judge he returned to the centre and has performed solidly since.  In Round 6 he hit the 150 mark as a first grade Referee. It is interesting to note that Steve has nearly 100 games as a Touch Judge as well.

Gavin Badger
Gavin first refereed NRL in 2004 and has since made some appearances in representative football.  Gavin celebrated his 150th milestone as a NRL Referee  in Round 4.

Ben Cummins & Jared Maxwell
Ben and Jared both debuted in 2006 and have been constant first grade officials ever since.  They both made their SOO debuts in 2011, and both reached their 150th Referee appointment early in 2012, Ben in Round 3 and Jared in Round 8.

Chris James
Chris made his debut with the arrival of the two-referee system in 2009 and has averaged 17 games per season since.  He reached his 50th game as a Referee in Round 1.

Grant Atkins
In Round 2 Grant made his 50th appearance as a Touch Judge.  He remains a solid performer on the sideline, waiting for the opportunity to show his ability with the whistle.  The week before he hit the 50 combined appointment milestone.

Chris Ward
Chris has continued to re-write the record books with his longevity in the game.   He has refereed 136 games and in Round 7 was Video Referee for a 414th time, meaning that he is the first official to reach this achievement.

There are a number of other officials that remain very close to other milestones in the next few rounds 

Chris James - 

Round 9 Chris was appointed to his 100th NRL Game as a combined appointments

Sean Hampstead - Round 10, 400 combined appointments

Russell Smith - Round 11, 150 combined appointments
Steve Lyons - 250 combined appointments
Tony DeLasHeras - 100 games (as a Referee)

Jason Walsh - Round 13, 100 games (Touch Judge)

Paul Simpkins - Round 14,  150 games (Video Referee)

Jeff Younis - Round 15, 200 games (Touch Judge)

Tony DeLasHeras - 16  150 combined appointments

Tony Archer - Round 17,  300 combined  appointments
Brett Suttor - 100 combined appointments

Steve Clark - Round 18  500 combined appointments
Matthew Cecchin - 300 combined appointments
Gavin Badger - 200 combined appointments