Marks looking forward to his debut
New referee aiming high
Paul Marks will be refereeing in the Super 14 competition this year, his first experience of refereeing at this level – a young referee obviously going places.
Marks – who is no relation to Wallaby Dick Marks – started refereeing as a schoolboy in Grade 9 at St Laurence's College in Brisbane, a foundation of the Christian Brothers, the alma mater of Wallabies Brendan Cannon, Dan Crowley, Mark Connors and former international referee Barry Leask.
Marks is a Queenlander – an adopted one for he was born in Caringbah, Sydney, on 11 November 1974. However, the family moved up to Queensland when he was three, and he is a Queenslander.
After starting as a schoolboy in 1989 – which means that he has been refereeing for 17 years, more than half his life – he refereed his first senior match in 1993, when he was 19, and his first First Grade match in Brisbane in 1999.
In 2003 he was first involved in the Super 12 – as a touch judge and as a television match official. In 2004 he was a member of the Australian Rugby Union's Referee Academy and in 2005 he was promoted to the national squad.
He has had international exposure. In 2004 he was a referee at the IRB's Under-19 World Championship in Durban and in 2005 he went to Argentina to referee at the IRB's Under-21 World Championship in Mendoza near the Andes. In 2005 he also refereed a match between the Reds and Auckland and then, the nearest to a test so far, Fiji against the New Zealand Divisional XV last November. Fiji won 39-29 at Churchill Park in Suva.
Paul is married to Linda and they have two small children – daughter Isabella aged three and son Ben aged two.
He is a draftsman employed by Stoddart Metal Fabricators, Australia's largest stainless steel fabrication business.
