Four Nations board attacked over failure to select neutral referees

Stuart Cummings, a director of World Cup match officials and former Test referee, has criticised the organisers of the Four Nations for failing to appoint neutral officials for this weekend’s round of fixtures.

Social media have been flooded with complaints from England fans over the appointment of an Australian, Gerard Sutton, to Sunday’s Australia-England match at AAMI Park here, during which the home side will attempt to keep alive their run of making every available tournament final since 1954. Meanwhile on Saturday, a New Zealander – Henry Perenara – will take charge of the Kiwis’ match against Samoa at Toll Stadium in Whangarei.

Cummings, who sat on the three-man board that appointed referees at last year’s World Cup, said: “What the hell has happened to international referee appointments? The World Cup had neutral referees in every game. We have gone backwards.

“And what is the criteria that decided that Gerry Sutton performed better than Phil Bentham [the English referee who took charge of Australia’s opening defeat to New Zealand]? Because I and many others over here can’t see it.”

This year’s selection committee comprises Australia’s Tony Archer, New Zealand’s Luke Watts and England’s Jon Sharp, and Cummings – a former RFL director of referees – has questioned the involvement of Watts given that Perenara is actually a product of the Australian system. “Why is a Kiwi head of referees even in an international selection?” Cummings, now a Sky pundit, continued. “Who has he even produced for international duty? Jon Sharp may as well come home as he will be out-voted each week.”

Australian officials argue that it is more important to have the best referee for the most important game than give the impression of neutrality, and that rugby league’s limited international reach means there is a dearth of suitable candidates from outside Australia and England.

But Cummings argued: “A proposal was put to the RLIF in 2008 and 2010, supported by the then heads of referees in the NRL and RFL, looking to have one person in charge of international development and appointments. If that had gone ahead, we would not be in this position now.”

Australia and England both expect to have their respective injured players available for the match, which is likely to attract a crowd of around 20,000. The Australia stand-off Daly Cherry-Evans returned from the birth of his second child in Sydney to get through a full training session on Thursday, despite a hip injury. Meanwhile the England captain, Sean O’Loughlin, who has a quad strain, did not attend Friday’s captains and coaches media conference at Federation Square but is expected to be added to the team named by Steve McNamara.

During the same media conference, McNamara played a straight bat in regards to the refereeing controversy. “It’s the same when you’re trying to choose an international referee as when you’re trying to choose a team,” the England coach said. “They’ve deemed that Gerard Sutton was the best referee last weekend and he’s got the game which is probably of the biggest importance this weekend, which is our game. I’ve got no issue with it. That’s the path the international game has gone down in this tournament and we’re happy to roll with it.”

The Australia captain, Cameron Smith, added: “I don’t think any referee is partial to any side, or the country where he lives or grew up. He’s out there to officiate the match and I think he’ll do that fairly. He’s approachable, he talks to all the players on the field.”

England’s James Graham has said his side are not focused on making history by giving Australia their first consecutive defeats anywhere since 1978, and at home since 1970. “It’s not entered our thoughts, knocking Australia out,” the Canterbury Bulldogs prop said.

Smith also denied the weight of history is bearing down on his men. “We just want to perform well,” he said. “You’ll see a better side out there on Sunday.”