Ex-cop lays down the law on sidelines

Former cop Gavin Benney may have hung up the boots since his 30-plus years' policing in Northland. However, he said his new task as field manager for weekend junior rugby has given him "reasonably free licence" to dish out discipline toward unruly spectators, coaches and parents.

With junior rugby kicking off at Kensington Park last weekend, Benney said public response to the new role was "really positive".

"I walked 20,000 steps and there was no dramas.

"Rather than turn up like a policeman, I want to educate the coaches, teams and clubs. [It was] really good. We had signs up saying the kids aren't 'All Blacks'."

Despite the new role being created to keep sideline abuse of referees to a minimum, Benney said it would be nice if sideline behaviour didn't have to be tackled with such a strong stance.

"In some ways it's sad that the job has to be created.

"It [sideline violence] is in every sport in every country. [But] from what I'm aware, no one in New Zealand is doing this."

Northland Rugby Union primary schools development officer, Grace Cooper, says Benney is "putting a lot of energy" into his new duty.

"Basically, because the sideline behaviour wasn't great, we just wanted to give the referees a more enjoyable experience."

Former Northland rugby referee education officer, and now Northland Rugby Union's operations manager, Kyal Collins, pinpointed the need for sideline control. Collins says "feedback was good" from Benney's first day last Saturday and that people were well behaved with the knowledge Benney was present.