Former NRL referee Henry Perenara says job security was the key reason he switched careers from an NRL player to an NRL referee.

Perenara recently announced his retirement from refereeing due to a heart condition.

The 40-year-old played 72 First Grade games across five clubs and one Test for New Zealand after debuting in 2001.

In 2011, he began his career as an NRL referee and told The Continuous Call Team he enjoyed the move.

“They offered me the inaugural cadetship,” Perenara said.

“There was myself, Luke Phillips and Paul Mellor that got offered it, the only difference was I was the only still playing.

“When they offered it to me, I was probably a player that was very lucky to play the amount of games that I did.

“I was surviving on one year deals.

“When the NRL offered the position, I got offered a three-year deal and that’s probably the reason why I jumped at it.”

Perenara has refereed 204 First Grade games and will continue to work in the NRL Bunker.

Click ‘play’ to hear the full interview below.

Image: NRL.