Annesley defends ‘big-game’ referee

THE NRL’s head of football Graham Annesley has put up a spirited defence for appointing Gerard Sutton as the head 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 approximately 5m from the spot where it should have been taken.

Despite the blunder, the 42year-old (pictured) has been named to referee the premiership decider 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 him as a “big-game referee”.

“One of the things about Gerard Sutton’s appointment is that he has long been acknowledged as the number one 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 said referees weren’t always perfect but he was confident in his ability to referee this weekend.

“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 will be doing everything possible to ensure it’s about the players.

“If we go unnoticed, that would be great for us.”