John Percival

John Percival was a New Zealand rugby league referee. An international referee, in 1995 Percival was one of the New Zealand Rugby League's inaugural inductions into the "Legends of League". Domestic career Percival was from the Point Chevalier Pirates club and played for the 1947 Schoolboy Kiwi side. He took up refereeing in 1956 and controlled matches in the Auckland Rugby League competition. By 1960 he was receiving provincial appointments. He earned a reputation for being a dominant and "eagle-eyed" referee. Percival is credited with innovating the penalty for backchat as he regularly used to march teams for the offence before it was added to the official rulebook.