Gavin Badger facts for kids
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Personal information
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| Born | 1972 (age 52–53) Redfern, New South Wales, Australia |
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Refereeing information
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! style="background: #b0c4de; text-align: center" colspan="7" | Refereeing information |- |- style="line-height:9pt;" | style="width: 7em;"|Years | colspan="5" style="width: 13em;"| Competition | style="width: 2em; text-align:center;"| Apps |- | 2003–20 | colspan="5" | NRL | style="text-align:center;"| 306 |- | 2009–14 | colspan="5" | City vs Country Origin | style="text-align:center;"| 2 |- | 2006 | colspan="5" | Internationals | style="text-align:center;"| |- |- |- |
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Gavin Badger is a well-known Australian rugby league referee. He is famous for his long career in the National Rugby League (NRL). Gavin has controlled more than 300 NRL matches, making him one of the most experienced referees in the sport.
Contents
Gavin Badger: A Top Rugby League Referee
Early Life and Start in Refereeing
Gavin Badger grew up in a place called Redfern, New South Wales, in Australia. He is special because he is the only full-time referee in the NRL with an Indigenous background.
Gavin started his career as an NRL referee in 2004. His very first game was between the Brisbane Broncos and the South Sydney Rabbitohs. This big moment happened at Suncorp Stadium.
Big Games and Milestones
In 2006, Gavin took charge of his first international rugby league match. This was an important game between Fiji and Tonga. It was a qualifying match for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
He has also refereed other important games. These include the City vs Country Origin matches in 2009 and 2014. He also refereed the exciting All Stars matches in 2010 and 2011.
Family in Rugby League
Gavin's wife, Kasey Badger, is also a rugby league referee! This is quite unique.
On October 21, 2012, they celebrated their second wedding anniversary in a very special way. They both refereed an international match together. This game was between Thailand and the Philippines.
A Refereeing Legend
On August 6, 2017, Gavin Badger reached a huge milestone. He became only the fifth referee in Australia to control 300 top-level rugby league matches. This shows how dedicated and skilled he is.
He joined a special group of referees who achieved this. These include Bill Harrigan, Col Pearce, Shayne Hayne, and Steve Clark.
