Thaler presented 2024 RLWBA Award

The Rugby League Writers and Broadcasters Association have marked Ben Thaler’s retirement after more than two decades refereeing at the top level by presenting him with their Merit Award for 2024.

The Merit Award recognises outstanding service to Rugby League on or off the field, and has been presented to a wide range of famous names since it was introduced in 1982 – but Thaler is the first referee to receive it.

Trevor Hunt, the Chair of the RLWBA and the Vice-President of the Rugby Football League, said:

“In many ways this is overdue, given the crucial role of match officials in the sport – and we think Ben Thaler is an appropriate choice to make this piece of history.

“He has been one of the top referees in the game for a long time, which takes some doing, both in terms of dedication but also in the ability to withstand criticism.

“Some of that can occasionally come from our members and the media more generally, but we recognise that referees do a very difficult job, and we’re lucky in Rugby League that they also tend to be great people who love the sport.

“There’s a great tradition of match officials interacting with the media, going back to the days of Billy Thompson and Fred Lindop, and Ben Thaler has always been a pleasure for us to deal with – and has also played his part in the media presentation of the sport with his work as a video referee for the BBC and Sky.

“We are delighted that he will be continuing in those roles, as well as working on the development of young officials – but we thought that following the announcement of his retirement as an on-field official at the end of the season, this was an appropriate time to recognise his contribution with our Merit Award.”

Thaler follows in the distinguished footsteps of Dave Woods, who was the 2023 winner of the Merit Award in recognition of his many years covering the sport for the BBC, and the other two winners since the award was revived after Covid in 2021 have been the Catalans Dragons owner Bernard Guasch, and the St Helens and England captain Jodie Cunningham, who became the first female winner in 2022.

Other winners have included such greats of the sport as Roger Millward (1986), Mal Meninga (1994), Alex Murphy (1995), Garry Schofield (1996), Shaun Edwards (1999), Steve Prescott (2009) and Jamie Peacock and Kevin Sinfield, who shared the award in 2015.