It has taken him more than 15 years to achieve it, but the 33-year-old's refereeing journey began in less than ideal fashion.

"I became a referee because I was sick of getting hurt," Birch said.

"The second reason was I abused a family friend of ours who was a referee when I was playing and it wasn't ideal when my punishment was to come down and referee the kids on a Friday night.

"When I finished playing that season in Colts and won the grand final for Pirates I kept refereeing."

The family friend Birch spoke of was well-known Mid North Coast Rugby royalty Steve Taylor who passed away suddenly in 2010.

He admitted it would be with a heavy heart that Taylor wouldn't be able to witness his 200-game milestone at a venue he had spent a lot of time refereeing at.

But was there a favourite?

"They're all special in their own little way," Birch said.

"I don't mind refereeing at Stuart Park because it's a bit more of a cauldron than maybe Oxley Oval where you're a bit more spread out and further from the crowd, but it has the views.

"They all have their atmosphere and even refereeing at Coffs Harbour - they're all different and special for me."

Birch said what started as an off-the-cuff comment to the referees secretary had been turned into something he wasn't sure what the "fuss was about."

"All I did was tell my secretary of referees so he had it in his records and all of a sudden everybody else knows about it," he said.

"It's no big deal for me."

While there have been times where Birch has wanted to give refereeing away and return to the hill with his mates, he always found himself back every week.

"There are times toward the end of the season where you've had enough and you throw the whistle away," he said.

"But two days later you're scratching back through the bin again trying to find it because you've got a game on Saturday and you're over your little tizzy.

"I'm only 34 this year so hopefully I've got a few more years on the coast."

Along the way there have already been "a lot of penalties, a lot of tries and a few penalty tries."

There will be a few more penalties and tries added to the tally in Saturday's match between the Pirates and Vikings.

Kick off is at 3.15pm.

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