NRL has faith in big-time referee
NRL’s head of football Graham Annesley has put up a spirited defence in appointing Gerard Sutton as the referee for Sunday’s grand final, despite the veteran match official coming under fire from fans for his officiating in last weekend’s preliminary final.
Sutton copped criticism for a number of decisions in Saturday’s preliminary final between Melbourne and Penrith – most notably the placement of a Nathan Cleary conversion.
After Penrith winger Brian To’o scored in the corner, Cleary appeared to take the kick at goal about five metres from the spot where it should have been taken.
Despite the blunder, Sutton has been named to referee the premiership decider in Brisbane on Sunday in what will be his seventh grand final appearance as a match official.
Annesley leapt to the defence of Sutton on Tuesday, describing Sutton as “a biggame referee”.
“One of the things about Gerard Sutton’s appointment is that he has long been acknowledged as the No.1 referee in the game,” Annesley said.
“He’s not let us down in the past. He has refereed multiple grand finals.
“He refereed the entire Origin series this year.
“Just like some players are big-game players, he’s a biggame referee. Experience is very important in these games.
“In big games, you need people who are not going to be overawed … and we’re confident he will deliver for us again on the weekend.”
Sutton, 42, admitted referees weren’t always perfect, with the level of technology on the field in today’s game reflecting this, but he was confident
in his ability. “We always know there’s going to be some focus on the match officials,” Sutton said.
“We’re out there to do the best we possibly can.
“We’ll be doing everything possible to ensure it’s about the players because at the end of the day, we want them to determine the result and if we go unnoticed, that would be great for us.
“In every game, there’s always decisions that are debatable or contentious.
“The reality is, with 16 cameras, we’re never going to be perfect but we’re always looking to improve and that will be no different this week.”
Sunday’s decider will be Sutton’s fifth grand final appearance in a row but revealed he still suffered a bout of nerves leading into the match.
“I’d be concerned if I wasn’t nervous,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve been there or what you think the game is going to present, it’s a huge occasion.
“It’s one that you put a lot of time and effort in trying to reach and you want the best possible outcome.
“Yeah, there’s always nerves but the key is using that to narrow your focus and channel it towards a positive performance.”
The NRL announced David Munro and Todd Smith as the touch judges while Grant Atkins will operate the Bunker.