State of Origin referees under scrutiny for penalty count

State of Origin should always be about the footy — but Wednesday night’s dramatic decider came so close to being ruled by the men with the whistle, rather than those with the ball.

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By half-time the game was tracking to be the most penalised Origin match in history. Remarkably in the second-half the whistle was virtually non-existent.

Wednesday night’s decider turned into a penalty-a-thon with referee’s Ashley Klein and Gerard Sutton taking centre stage. The duo were under-fire in the lead-up to the game before keeping their places.

By half-time 12 penalties had already been blown which had the pair on track to get near the all-time record of 26 penalties in an Origin match which has happened four times — the last in 1983. It was the most penalties in a first half of Origin in 23 years and just two short of the all-time half record of 15 in game two in 1995.

Gerard Sutton could see the officials were doing too much. Image: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

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Maroons coach Kevin Walters said “I don’t have any problems with the referees.”

In the end the match finished with 14 with just one penalty blown in the opening 20 minutes of the second half prompting Queensland legend Paul Vautin to pose the question on Channel 9;

“They might have got a little tap on the shoulder,” Vautin said.

Vautin earlier said: “They will ruin the game if they keep it up.”

The officials knew they had to pull back in the second half. Image: Adam Head

The second penalty in the second half came with 10 minutes left. Only two were blown in the final half.

The match officials were well aware of the mounting penalty count. In a rare moment Sutton took a try-scoring opportunity to take a moment to speak with his sideline officials in the first half.

“We are having to do a lot,” Sutton told his sideline officials after Paul Vaughan crossed in the 35th minute. “They are not giving an inch.

“Let’s not over do it. Let’s continue to work.”

Former Blues coach Phil Gould was scathing throughout the commentary.

“If the referees stay out of it the players will decide it,” Gould said.

“We don’t come to see how good the referee’s referee. Keep the ball in play let the (players) decide the game).”

The Blues were denied what looked to be a fair try to Josh Addo-Carr which would have shut the Maroons out of any hope of trying to snatch out a late victory.

Jack Wighton was stripped of the ball by a Maroons player with the ball bouncing into the arms of Addo-Carr who scooped up the ball and put it over the try-line.

But the match officials did not go to the bunker, instead ruling Wighton knocked the ball on as he tried to pass it.