Ex-Wigan Warriors hooker Josh Ganson has become a referee... just like his dad

And he may even quit playing to concentrate on carving out a career as a match official.

Ganson - son of ex-ref Steve - played nine times for the Warriors but left earlier this season to join Widnes.

Now out of contract, he has refereed four matches including a junior game between Orrell St James and Ince Rose Bridge on Sunday.

"With it being the off-season, I thought I'd give it a go and try out refereeing," said the 21-year-old.

"It's a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I'm really enjoying it.

"It helps having played the game, you know the rules and you also see things in a game and know what to look for, but there are some slight rules I didn't know about so it's been good to learn.

"I've done two university games, an Under-18s and an Under-15s as well, and it's been good."

A former England academy captain, Ganson debuted for Wigan in 2017.

But he failed to break into the Wigan side this season and had stints with Swinton and London Skolars before his move to Widnes.

He is now a free agent and is not sure whether he will play on in 2020 or focus on refereeing.

"I'm not sure yet. I'm not quite sure," he said.

"I'll see what comes up, but I'm quite enjoying this at the minute so I'll see how it goes."

Whether he plays on or not, he hopes to continue his new involvement in the game. Asked whether he had aspirations to become a top-level referee like his dad - who is now the RFL's head of match officials - he replied: "Definitely.

"One day, maybe I could be as good as my dad was."