New Zealand's top referee Colin Hawke retired on January 18, 2002 ending an era for this outstanding sportsman.

After 30 years of active refereeing, 1st class involvement since 1983, Test involvement since 1990 and approaching his 50th birthday, Colin Hawke retired from first class rugby on January 18, 2002.

Colin started his first class refereeing career in 1983, and in that time had controlled 173 games. Colin is from Canterbury, Timaru to be more precise. Being born in Canterbury and being involved in Rugby - one would naturally expect him to be rather good and he proved to be just that!

Most people who live in Timaru divide their loyalties between Canterbury and Otago. Many an Otago supporter however would state that Colin is definately not an Otago supporter!

Colin's last Test appearance was in Marseilles. Australia versus France. Colin thought this was a good test to bow out with.

A former policeman Colin went back to being a Community Constable in Timaru after his retirement. Rugby meant that Colin was away from home about 190 days per year so now Colin says he actually has time to drive his classic 1960 Austin-Healey and his dog no longer growls at him when he comes home.

But Colin is not completely away from rugby. His new (part time) role is that of National Resource Coach (Refereeing), responsible to the manager of high performance referees. This is a two-year appointment, with a commitment to provide 80 days annually to elite and national teams, national referee squads and other refereeing/coaching seminars, where his technical and other experience can be utilised.

The primary goal is to raise the levels of law awareness within our national teams - All Blacks, Black Ferns, Under 21, Divisional XV, NZ Maori - and to assist in the management of these teams in all facets of refereeing and referee management. To date the feedback has been very positive.

The aim is for New Zealand teams to improve their law knowledge and reduce penalty and free kick counts to a pre-determined level - and to win in their competitions.

Colin's roles will include...
• Liaising with and assisting the coaching staff and management of our national teams.
• Attending and assisting at high performance refereeing seminars and training squad camps.
• Assisting with the development and delivery of high performance referee training and development programmes.
• Assisting with the development and delivery of community refereeing programmes and services.