In national refereeing ranks, they are known as the ‘BOP Mafia' and hard work with whistle in hand means the Bay of Plenty's refereeing quartet will retain their unofficial status.

The New Zealand Rugby Union has released its 2015 National Refereeing Squads with the Bay referees, ranging from professional to national, among a 37-strong line-up.

Bay of Plenty referee Glen Jackson. Photo: File.

Glen Jackson and Nick Briant have both been kept on as professional referees, and they're joined by Super Rugby referee Shane McDermott and national referee Brett Johnson, who also keep their positions.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union referee manager Brent Jenkins says the Bay rugby community is proud to have the quartet on the national and international circuit, in what is a great endorsement for the region.

Both Jackson and Briant have been on the Super Rugby and international circuit for some time while the latter have been cutting their teeth with various assistant and provincial tasks.

'Shane this year was doing a lot of AR [assistant refreee] work and he will continue to do that this year,” says Brent.

'Brett has refereed a lot in the Heartland Championship this year and he did an ITM Cup game too. The progression for him will be to continue getting more game time in the ITM Cup next year.”

But while things might be rosy on a higher level, the Bay's refereeing stocks are in desperate need of new blood to pick up a whistle.

The rugby union currently has 83 referees on its books, but an optimal number of 125 'active on the field running referees” is the target, says Jenkins.

'We certainly encourage any players if they are looking to get out of the game, or through injury, to come and have a go,” he adds.

'A lot of guys [referees] are doing two games a weekend. There are just some games we can't cover, but we try and cover all secondary school games and above.

He says Johnson is a perfect example of what can achieve in the ranks of refereeing, having picked up the whistle just four years ago.

A versatile flanker, Johnson was forced to pull the pin on his playing career after a sustaining a badly dislocated elbow three minutes into his Bay of Plenty Steamers career.

Since then he has risen steadily through the refereeing ranks.

'He's done exceptionally well to be in the national squad after three years,” says Jenkins.

Bay of Plenty referees in NZRU 2015 Refereeing Squads:

Professional Referees: Glen Jackson and Nick Briant.

Super Rugby Squad: Shane McDermott.

National Squad: Brett Johnson.