Referee has chief onside

THE NRL’S head of football Graham Annesley has put up a spirited defence for 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.

Cleary appeared to take the kick 5m from the correct spot.

Annesley described Sutton as a “big-game referee”.

“In big games, you need people who are not going to be overawed,” he said.