NRL 360 host Paul Kent has beaten up referee for the 2020 Grand Final, Gerard Sutton, after a controversial performance in the decision on Sunday night.
The 2020 NRL Grand Final was quite controversial with a penalty kick, a bunker mistake and a late sin that drew the wrath of the football world.
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But with all the calls, Kent said the referee had “guessed himself” all night and said goodbye to the spectacle.
In fact, he went so far as to believe that Storm Captain Cameron Smith was fortunate enough not to be sent off the field late in the game after wondering if Sutton “got” the Panthers back into the game.
The concept came to the fore at the start of the season when Panthers manager Ivan Cleary told reporters after his team’s 28:12 win over the Raiders that “it felt like they were being brought back into the game”.
Although he didn’t use the same words, Smith seemed to feel the same when Jahrome Hughes was sentenced to sin nine minutes before the game was over.
“The last three or four penalties they have are little very picky and we have nothing, mate,” said Smith, before Sutton Hughes issued his marching orders.
“I understand everyone wants an exciting finish. But we are just like them. Stop trying to pick little things out of our game to get an exciting ending. “
Smith was cleared of all wrongdoing, but he was far from the only person upset about the whistleblowers. Coach Craig Bellamy was also furious as the calls in the second half didn’t go the way of his team.
Bellamy had one of the biggest blasts ever in the coaching box, where he was filmed whipping and kicking a chair.
But Kent said Smith was lucky not to follow Hughes off the field.
“He was very lucky that he didn’t get sin,” said Kent.
“Gorden Tallis called Bill Harrigan a ‘cheater’, that’s just a more diplomatic way of putting it. “I know you’re trying to get them back in-game,” implies …
“He was so close. The difference between what he said and what Gorden said is the difference between him and Gorden. “
But instead of being critical of Smith, Kent said Sutton’s performance left much to be desired.
“I was really disappointed with Gerard Sutton’s performance,” Kent said on NRL 360.
“He didn’t show the courage of his convictions, he guessed himself all night.
“That was what I was really excited about at the NRL. All year long we’ve talked about how good six is again, how great it was for the game, but once we get to the semifinals you’ll find it good to be a referee by putting your whistle in your pocket and you don’t call anymore. “
Phil Rothfield of the Daily Telegraph said Kent should be “a little happier” and called the umpire “nine out of ten compared to last year”.
He added that referee Gerard Sutton “made a mistake”.
Kent hit back, however, “I thought when the game was on stage, the fact that they kept sending it upstairs (into the bunker), the fact that Kaufusi pretended to have an injury later in the game, things like that must get out of the game. “
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