Kasey Badger made history on Monday night by becoming the first female to referee a men's Rugby League World Cup match.
The Australian took charge of the clash between Tonga and Wales in Saint Helens and is hoping to be a trailblazer for more female officials. She is one of two women named among the officials for the competition, alongside compatriot Belinda Sharpe.
Badger's husband Gavin is also a former referee and made the round-the-world dash to see her in action at the Totally Wicked Stadium after she found out over the weekend.
“Any time something like this comes along, you carry with it the sense of taking the game forward. In this case, the sense of officiating for females," she said before the match.
“Hopefully this will boost the interest of people joining the refereeing ranks, specifically women. This shows there are genuine opportunities for women to progress to the world stage.
“Young girls could see this and think, ‘I want to give that a crack.’ It’s not something I expected. I was thinking maybe I’d be a touch judge in the men’s competition and referee in the women’s."
On her husband's mad dash, she added: "Gavin was the first person I rang. It was nearly midnight in Australia, so I messaged him asking, ‘Are you still awake?’
“He thought it was the best thing he’d ever heard and said straight away, ‘I’m coming over.’ He was straight on the phone looking at flights. He landed yesterday but it’ll be special to have him at the ground."
Tonga emerged victorious in Saint Helens with a 32-6 victory over Wales, who have not won a World Cup match since 2000.
Kyle Evans gave Wales a shock early lead but that sparked Tonga into action as Daniel Tupou got his first of three tries. David Fifita and Keaon Koloamatangi also ran over before the interval.
Wales pushed after the break but Tesi Niu ended the match as a contest before Tupou wrapped up his hat-trick.
