Melbourne Storm CEO Dave Donaghy jokes referee Gerard Sutton would have sent more Storm players off if he had time on the clock
Melbourne CEO Dave Donaghy joked that referee Gerard Sutton could have sent more Storm players off in the grand final if he had time.
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Melbourne captain Cameron Smith will not face sanction from the NRL match review committee after being cleared for suggesting grand final referee Gerard Sutton was trying to set up an “exciting finish” by sin-binning two Storm players.
Smith avoided a $20,000 fine after hitting out at Sutton when Hughes was sent to the sin bin in the 71st minute for a professional foul.
Penrith No.7 Nathan Cleary put a kick through for Viliame Kikau and the play was sent upstairs.
The bunker ruled that Hughes had initially chased after the kick before changing his line to impede Kikau, constituting a professional foul.
Smith approached referee Sutton as the video referral process took place and accused him of trying to set up an exciting finish.
“The last three or four penalties they have got is little very picky stuff and we have got nothing mate,” Smith said before Hughes was sent to the bin.
“I get it, everyone wants an exciting finish. But we are just the same as them.
“Stop trying to pick little things out of our game to make an exciting finish.”
Smith could find himself hit with a fine for the comment given it is similar in nature to that made by Panthers coach Ivan Cleary earlier in the season.
Cleary claimed the Raiders were “managed” back into the contest in a 28-14 and was fined $20,000, later reduced to $10,000.
Meanwhile, Melbourne CEO Dave Donaghy joked that Sutton would have found a way to send more Storm players off if the grand final had lasted longer.
Donaghy made the tongue-in-cheek comments after Sutton sent Jahrome Hughes and Brandon Smith to the sin bin in the second half.
After leading 22-0 at halftime, Melbourne managed to hold off a fast-finishing Penrith side with just 11 men to claim the club’s fourth premiership.
“(If we played for a couple more minutes), I think Gerard Sutton would’ve found a couple of ways to send more of our players off,” Donaghy told SEN.
ðŸ—£ï¸ "Stop trying to pick little things out of our game to make an exciting finish."
— FOXSportsAUS (@FOXSportsAUS) October 25, 2020
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Cameron Smith has been busted questioning the integrity of referee Gerard Sutton in the #NRLGF and could face a heavy fine >>> https://t.co/bxnbECMbQD pic.twitter.com/uShdGiLG1u
Originally published as Melbourne Storm CEO Dave Donaghy jokes referee Gerard Sutton would have sent more Storm players off if he had time on the clock