Referee Adam Gee’s brilliant NRL grand final display must be the benchmark going forward

The brilliant performance of NRL grand final referee Adam Gee has exposed a huge issue for the competition going forward, writes Paul Crawley.

NRL grand final referee Adam Gee (middle). Picture: NRL Photos

Referee Adam Gee’s brilliant grand final performance has given the NRL a giant headache going forward.

That is because it has inadvertently exposed why the NRL match officiating system is so desperately in need of an off-season overhaul after completely losing its way in recent years.

It has also highlighted why the role of the Bunker should be drastically reduced.

It was the refereeing of Gee, every bit as much as the inspirational performances of the Panthers and Broncos players, that laid the foundations for a game that is widely being rated among the greatest premiership deciders we’ve ever seen.

And Gee achieved that by simply putting the bloody whistle away.

All up, there were only five penalties on the night.

One set restart.

No sin bins.

It reminded us all exactly how a game of rugby league should be officiated.

NRL grand final referee Adam Gee (middle). Picture: NRL Photos

Gee also kept the Bunker the hell out of play other than coming in to clear up any confusion in try scoring situations.

He didn’t get bogged down handing out nitpicking penalties to try and put his stamp on the match.

There was a moment early in the game where Gee put the whistle to his mouth like he was preparing to blow a penalty, but instead he resisted the temptation.

And that set the benchmark for the match.

Gee also didn’t reward players for staying down to try and milk penalties.

He didn’t send players from the field for minor offences.

You couldn’t count how many games this season were ruined by players being sent to the sin bin for ridiculous over-the top decisions.

We had a total of 119 sin bins in the 204 games during the regular season.

Yet in the nine finals matches there were only two.

NRL grand final referee Adam Gee did a brilliant job. Picture: NRL Photos

Did the players suddenly get so much better, or did the refs change their interpretations?

I think we all know the answer to that question, even if the NRL will never come out and publicly admit it.

But we are still entitled to ask why did we have to put up with the sin binning crackdown for the majority of the regular season when it got dumped for the finals?

We can only hope it doesn’t turn into another farce next season.

On top of that, there was also an average of 11 penalties a game this season.

But only five in the grand final.

There were 4.5 set restarts on average this season compared to one on Sunday night.

Sure, we were dealing with the two best teams who went out to play in spirit of how the game is intended to be played.

But Gee also deserves tremendous credit for making the game the spectacle it was by allowing it to flow.

He could have easily pulled up minor ruck infringements or players standing off-side on numerous occasions.

And thankfully it also wasn’t a case of one team constantly getting pinged and the other not.

Penrith Panthers celebrate with fans after their NRL grand final win. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

The NRL should also aim to dramatically reduce the use of the Bunker next season.

There have been calls for the Bunker to start ruling on blatant forward passes in try scoring situations, and that is one change the NRL should seriously consider.

But other than being called on in try scoring situations, the Bunker needs to back off and give the power back to the on field official.

One of the AFL’s greatest strengths as a game is the lack of stoppages, and how the flow of play does not get bogged down by too many rules.

And as we all saw in the NRL grand final, when there are fewer stoppages you can also get the continuity back in rugby league that most fans crave.

The NRL should get every referee to sit down and study Gee’s performance and let that be the new benchmark going forward.

It is not rocket science. It is rugby league. So stop over-officiating and give the players and the fans more of the game we love.