State of Origin 2016: Blues lose ref battle with Ben Cummins and Gerard Sutton to officiate Game II

THE Blues have lost the first battle of Origin II with the NRL to retain referees Ben Cummins and Gerard Sutton.

Laurie Daley was unhappy with the referees performance in Game I.

THE Blues have lost the first battle of Origin II with the NRL to reject Laurie Daley’s demand for the referees to be punted.

The NRL will soon announce the officials for next Wednesday’s blockbuster at Suncorp Stadium with Ben Cummins and Gerard Sutton in the box seat to be retained.

Sutton was the lead referee for Monday’s Sharks-Cowboys clash and referees boss Tony Archer will review the game on Tuesday before finalising the appointments.

Daley savaged Cummins and Sutton in his post-match press conference after the Blues were pipped 6-4 at ANZ Stadium in Origin I.

“Put it this way, I will be asking for those two referees to not officiate in Game Two,” Daley said.

“Based on history and based on that game. There were plenty of big calls that happened.”

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The NRL is yet to act on Daley’s comments and insisted it hasn’t decided whether the NSW coach would be issued a breach notice.

The NRL would look weak if it was to drop Cummins and Sutton on the back of Daley’s comments, given they are regarded as the competition’s best whistleblowers.

“Those two referees are the best referees in the NRL,” Maroons captain Cameron Smith said.

“It was up to standard.

“You get a fair gauge on the field and it was a fairly well balanced in the way it was officiated.”

Queensland Rugby League chairman Peter Betros said it was “ludicrous” for Daley to demand the referees be dropped.

“The day states start picking who referees the games is the day the lunatics start running the asylum,” Betros said.

Gerard Sutton and Ben Cummins will be retained for Game II.

“Those two referees are by far the best two referees running around in the NRL.

“The players respect them and they respect the players.”

Maroons coach Kevin Walters admitted Queensland got the rub of the green in Origin I, however the most controversial calls were made by The Bunker.

“We were very happy with the referees’ performance,” he said.

“I saw some errors from our players, the NSW players and the referees.

“That’s par for Origin and any game. Everyone is going to make mistakes.

“I thought the referees did a great job. It’s not easy for them.

“We’ll be more than happy with whoever referees.”