A father-daughter combination will create a piece of Group Nine history on grand final day.
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Scott Muir will be at the helm for his third first grade grand final hours after daughter Sarah-Jane referees the leaguetag grand final.
The 18-year-old will become the first woman to control a Group Nine decider.
And like most debutantes there are plenty of nerves heading into the big day.
“I’m very, very nervous, but I have been working all year for it so hopefully I can go out there and get the job done,” Sarah-Jane said.
Despite following in her father’s footsteps, there was never a push to be a next generation referee.
Instead she stumbled into it four years ago.
“It was during a social boot camp session and one of dad’s mates, who was refereeing, said they were looking for referees and I was eavesdropping on the conversation and thought I could do that,” Sarah-Jane said.
“I asked how I could get involved and it started from there.”
Scott first picked up a whistle in 1993 and after a few retirement attempts believes Sarah-Jane motivates him to stay involved.
He is amazed by how confident not only his daughter is but a raft of talented youngsters coming through the refereeing ranks.
“There’s a lot more young ladies involved too which is good,” he said. “They are certainly a lot more confident than what I was at that age.
“Maybe that is society, but a lot of them are better referees than what I was at that age.”
Across all grades it will be Muir’s 16th grand final.
He was at the helm last year with the same two combatants and doesn’t expect too many troubles.
“They almost take care of themselves so for me it is about making sure I identify who wins the ruck,” Scott said.
“If you make a good run you have every right to have a quick play the ball and vice versa if you make a strong tackle I’m going to allow an extra second or two as you’ve basically won the ruck.”
With both teams having a lot of grand final experience he expects it will be a great game.
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