Tolingling: I am first local to oversee a QRL fixture

By JACK AMI
VETERAN rugby league referee Moses Tolingling, pictured, says he was the first Papua New Guinean to officiate in a Queensland Rugby League (QRL) game.
Tolingling refereed a game in 1997 when the Port Moresby Vipers were part of the QRL competition.
He said a recent report that Digicel Cup referees Max Topani and Hanua Rupa were the first match officials from PNG to officiate in a Q-Cup game was incorrect.
“I was the first Papua New Guinean to referee a QRL match at the age of 41,” Tolingling said.
He recalled that the Vipers played Sunshine Coast at the Lloyd Robson Oval in Port Moresby.
His second game was in Brisbane between East Tigers and Ipswich Jets where he sent off Jets No.4 Jeff Prince, who was later suspended for four weeks.
“My last game was again in Brisbane between the Jets against the Cairns Cyclones.
Tolingling said he was honoured to have been the first Papua New Guinean referee to take charge of a QRL match.