Foordy
International Captain
Contributor
- Mar 4, 2008
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Henry Perenara has retired from refereeing due to a heart condition. He'll see out the remainder of the season in the bunker and mentor the younger referees as they come through the ranks.
Perenara made 72 NRL appearances for the Warriors, Storm, Dragons, Eels and Sharks. He then moved into refereeing and officiated in more than 200 first-grade games.
quotes from Perenara
“It’s exercise-induced supraventricular tachycardia [SVT],” Perenara explained.
“It’s not life-threatening or dangerous to begin with. What it means is that my heartbeat can get up to 230 beats per minute.
“If I’m being honest, I’ve probably had it for 15-20 years, since I was playing.
“I only got it diagnosed in February, which is one of the reasons I didn’t start in first grade; I missed the trials.
“I only get it when I’m training. It’s like when the heart of old people races and they need to sit down and they know what to do, that’s what it is. The only difference with my one is that I only get it when I referee or train at high levels.
“And obviously we have to be fit the way the game is now.
“I just managed it, I knew when I got it, I shortened my comms up. I don’t know how I did it. The only time it is dangerous is if you are in SVT for a long time.”
“The difficulty with me when I’m refereeing is that I can’t stop,” he said.
“That was tricky. I don’t know how I managed it, I just did it.
“I had a bit of an incident at training. When I was diagnosed I got put on meds and one of the side effects is that I got lethargic. After three games I got myself off meds because they were affecting me and weren’t really working.
“I had an incident at training where I was in SVT for six minutes and nearly collapsed. I realised I can’t keep doing it and made the call.”
“It’s an extremely hard decision but given all the circumstances, it was an easy one to make,” he said.
“Now is the time to look back and reflect. If someone would have told me that I would do what I did when I took up refereeing 14 years ago, I’d take that straight away.
“I have been preparing for this day to come for a long time. I’ve got a management degree I’ll put to use, I’ve got a finance background so I might jump into something in that field. If it’s in rugby league, then it’s rugby league.”
Perenara made 72 NRL appearances for the Warriors, Storm, Dragons, Eels and Sharks. He then moved into refereeing and officiated in more than 200 first-grade games.
quotes from Perenara
“It’s exercise-induced supraventricular tachycardia [SVT],” Perenara explained.
“It’s not life-threatening or dangerous to begin with. What it means is that my heartbeat can get up to 230 beats per minute.
“If I’m being honest, I’ve probably had it for 15-20 years, since I was playing.
“I only got it diagnosed in February, which is one of the reasons I didn’t start in first grade; I missed the trials.
“I only get it when I’m training. It’s like when the heart of old people races and they need to sit down and they know what to do, that’s what it is. The only difference with my one is that I only get it when I referee or train at high levels.
“And obviously we have to be fit the way the game is now.
“I just managed it, I knew when I got it, I shortened my comms up. I don’t know how I did it. The only time it is dangerous is if you are in SVT for a long time.”
“The difficulty with me when I’m refereeing is that I can’t stop,” he said.
“That was tricky. I don’t know how I managed it, I just did it.
“I had a bit of an incident at training. When I was diagnosed I got put on meds and one of the side effects is that I got lethargic. After three games I got myself off meds because they were affecting me and weren’t really working.
“I had an incident at training where I was in SVT for six minutes and nearly collapsed. I realised I can’t keep doing it and made the call.”
“It’s an extremely hard decision but given all the circumstances, it was an easy one to make,” he said.
“Now is the time to look back and reflect. If someone would have told me that I would do what I did when I took up refereeing 14 years ago, I’d take that straight away.
“I have been preparing for this day to come for a long time. I’ve got a management degree I’ll put to use, I’ve got a finance background so I might jump into something in that field. If it’s in rugby league, then it’s rugby league.”
