“I love this game. The true game. It makes you feel you belong whatever bloody genitals you were born with.”
It’s the 1980s and Alex has fallen heavily in love with Rugby League. It’s her life, her passion. She is desperate to be involved in the middle of the game. But women don’t play League; they spectate, wash the kit, make the sausage rolls.
Because her name sounds like a boy’s, Alex wrangles a place on the Rugby League Referee Training Scheme. But those in control are not ready for her, and try very hard to make her disappear.
Based on a true story, ranging from the 1980s to the present century and across two continents, REF! is a universal tale of how one woman – against the odds – proves she can not only survive but triumph.
Foreword by pioneering rugby league referee Julia Lee