Nicholas "Nick" Euclid OAM (15 March 1932 – 27 September 2007) was Chairman of Queensland Rugby League Referees' Association and founding Chairman of the Australian Rugby League Referees' Association. He was a rugby team manager and a drummer.

Family life

Fondly known as 'The Greek', Euclid was born in

Ingham, Queensland Ingham is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Hinchinbrook, Queensland, Australia. It is named after William Bairstow Ingham and is the administrative centre for the Shire of Hinchinbrook. In the , th ...

. His parents were post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

immigrants from

Kastellorizo Kastellorizo or Castellorizo ( ; ), officially Megisti (), is a Greek island and municipality of the Dodecanese in the Eastern Mediterranean.Bertarelli, 131 It lies roughly off the south coast of Turkey, about southeast of Athens and east of R ...

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. After schooling in Ingham, he attended All Souls College,

Charters Towers, Queensland Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway, Queensland, Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed a ...

. He was an active musician (

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

) and met his future wife, Maureen Crowley, while playing at a local dance in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

. They eventually married and had three children; Pauline, Jim and Tina. Together with his wife, Euclid was proprietor of the White Rose Cafe (

) and Nick's Fine Foods (Townsville) before managing the Townsville Rugby League Club (

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

) until his retirement in 1996. Following his retirement, he continued in his full-time position as Director of the Australian Rugby League Referees' Association until his death in September 2007.

Sporting career

From a young age, Euclid was active in local

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

, playing for the local

Herbert River The Herbert River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia. The southernmost of Queensland's wet tropics river systems, it was named in 1864 by George Elphinstone Dalrymple explorer, after Robert Herbert, Robert George Wyndham Herbert, th ...

team in the annual

Foley Shield The Foley Shield is a rugby league competition in North Queensland administered by the Queensland Rugby League. Prior to 1948 an inter-town competition known as the Carlton Cup was contested in North Queensland. This was revamped, and renamed ...

matches. After retiring from the game, Euclid went on to referee in two international matches and was considered the leading referee in the region for a substantial period. a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer in his youth, he also tried his hand at coaching, guiding the likes of fellow Ingham-born

Laurie Spina Laurie Joseph Spina ( ) (born 21 May 1963) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and rugby league commentator. In 1995, Spina was the inaugural captain of the North Queensland Cowboys. Background Born in Ingham, Queensla ...

and Australian Test representative

Greg Dowling Greg Ian Dowling (born 15 January 1959) is an Australian former politician and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative prop forward, he ...

. Dowling credited Euclid as being instrumental in diverting him from a life of trouble to that of a dedicated athlete. A hugely popular member of the QRL office, Euclid was a father figure to many of the State's great rugby league referees, including Referees' Academy Manager Eddie Ward and Barry 'Grasshopper' Gomersall. Euclid famously handed his first-ever whistle after being injured during a Foley Shield match in Townsville. Gomersall, who had been touch judge on the day, kept the whistle as a lucky charm until his death in February 2008. Euclid was for many years charged with nominating and appointing Queensland-based referees to State of Origin fixtures and also to the Queensland Wizard Cup and State League competitions. In many of the years that Euclid occupied his Board positions with the ARL and QRL Referees, he did so in an honorary capacity, not receiving remuneration. In June 2002, Euclid was awarded a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

'for service to Rugby League football as a player, coach, administrator and referee, particularly in the development of referee accreditation policy.' Th
Nick Euclid Medal
is given annually in his honor to the Best Young Rugby League Referee in Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Euclid, Nicholas Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 1932 births 2007 deaths Australian rugby league referees