St Helens hooker Tara Jones has introduced her retirement as a participant to turn into a full-time match official with the Rugby Soccer League.
Jones, St Helens Ladies’s main look maker, grew to become the primary lady to referee a senior RFL males’s fixture in April when she took cost of the Betfred League One fixture between Oldham and Cornwall at Boundary Park.
The 28-year-old, capped 14 instances by England, has additionally appeared as a touch-judge in quite a lot of Betfred Tremendous League fixtures.
Jones advised her Saints team-mates of her determination earlier than her facet’s Ladies’s Tremendous League Grand Remaining defeat to York Valkyrie on Sunday.
RFL head of match officers Phil Bentham stated: “It has been a giant determination for her to retire from a unbelievable membership and worldwide taking part in profession after this weekend’s Ladies’s Tremendous League Grand Remaining.
“She’s had an excellent season as a match official, changing into the primary feminine official to referee males’s League One and contact choose males’s Tremendous League.
“This significant appointment will see Tara become the first woman to join our full-time squad, since its inception in 2006.”
Jones took cost of the Betfred League One fixture between Oldham and Cornwall in April
England Ladies head coach Stuart Barrow added: “Tara has been an outstanding player for club and country, at such an exciting time for Women’s Rugby League – and she was an integral part of our 2022 World Cup campaign.
“It has taken outstanding dedication and dedication to mix that together with her improvement as a match official.”
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