St Helens hooker Tara Jones has introduced her retirement as a participant to develop into a full-time match official with the Rugby Soccer League.
Jones, St Helens Ladies’s main look maker, grew to become the primary girl 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 occasions by England, has additionally appeared as a touch-judge in a variety of Betfred Tremendous League fixtures.
Jones informed her Saints team-mates of her determination earlier than her aspect’s Ladies’s Tremendous League Grand Ultimate 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 incredible membership and worldwide taking part in profession after this weekend’s Ladies’s Tremendous League Grand Ultimate.
“She’s had a superb season as a match official, changing into the primary feminine official to referee males’s League One and contact decide 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 along with her improvement as a match official.”
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