Thaler looking forward to The 745 Game challenge

Ben Thaler has refereed over 700 senior games during his career including Grand Finals, Challenge Cup Finals and World Cups but even he will face something new on Sunday 17^th November when he takes charge of The 745 Game. 

Thaler, who retired as an on field official at the end of this season, will be joined by Irish Rugby Union official Frank Murphy in taking control. Thaler was asked to be involved by Rob Burrow’s wife Lindsey and he had no hesitation, he was an obvious choice having worked with Rob throughout his career and been a friend to Rob.

Thaler told BBC Breakfast, “The concept is brilliant and a bit mind blowing how Rob and Ed came up with this concept of a hybrid game. When I heard about the game, I thought it would simply be a case of half a game of Rugby Union and half a game of Rugby League but we are not.

“We will have a Rugby League play the ball so no rucks like in Union but when the ball goes out of play we will have line outs and scrums. The tackles will be interesting as we will have unlimited tackles inside your own half, like Union, but once a team crosses half way, they will then have six tackles to try and score, just like in League.

“We are copying the style they used to have in the NRL in Australia with two referees, myself and Rugby Union referee Frank Murphy. Frank will look after the tackle area and I will be getting the defensive team back five metres to get on side,” added Thaler.

Thaler officiated 441 Super League matches and took charge of the Rhinos wins in the 2015 Challenge Cup Final and Grand Final. He was the man in the middle for the Rob Burrow testimonial game in 2020. He thinks The 745 Game could be the start of a something special. He added, “I was lucky to be a professional referee for 18 years and both codes are now very professional. I think this game could be really interesting in showing how both codes could evolve in the future. It is great for MND and the awareness this game will bring to that community but I actually think it will be good for both codes to start thinking about how they hybrid model could actually work.”

Book your tickets now at tickets.therhinos.co.uk