Rowan Sawers is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 umpire

Umpire (Australian rules football)

An umpire is an official in the sport of Australian rules football.-Origins:Unlike many other codes of football, where the official is called a referee, in Australian Football, the officials borrow their title from the game of cricket, which is played on the same types of fields and was an...

 and current Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 Umpires' Coach.

Until Hayden Kennedy

Hayden Kennedy

Hayden Daniel Kennedy is an Australian rules football field umpire in the Australian Football League and is also a teacher at St Bernard's College Essendon...

 surpassed his record on 8 September 2007, no VFL/AFL umpire had officiated more games than Sawers, whose career spanned two decades and 410 matches. Sawers also umpired eight State of Origin games and was involved in two International rules football

International rules football

International rules football is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international representative matches between Australian rules football players and Gaelic football players....

 tours to Ireland. He was recruited from the Southern Umpires' Association, which is based in Seaford, Victoria

Seaford, Victoria

Seaford is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Frankston...

.

Career summary:

• Umpiring career: 1977-1997; Games: 410, Finals: 31
• Grand Finals: 4 (1982, 1984, 1987, 1990)

Rowan Sawers began his League career at Moorabbin Oval

Moorabbin Oval

Moorabbin Oval, also known by its sponsorship name of Linen House Oval, is an Australian Rules Football ground in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia at Linton Street in the suburb of Moorabbin....

 in May 1977.

“My first bounce in League football didn’t bounce – the ball got stuck in the mud. Paul Callery

Paul Callery

Paul Callery is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League during the 1970s....

, the St.Kilda rover, plucked the Sherrin out of the bog and played on.”http://www.aflua.com.au/pdf/AFLUA_team_of_the_century.pdf

Twenty-one seasons later in 1997 he became the AFL games record holder.

He is currently a member of the AFL's Laws of the Game Committee and the AFL Umpires coach, a position which he has held since December 1997.

In 2002 he was named in the AFL Umpires Association Umpires' Team of the Century.

In 2004 the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 inducted into Sawers to the Australian Football Hall of Fame

Australian Football Hall of Fame

The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. It was initially established...

joining a select group of 11 umpires so honoured to date.