The whistleblower set to referee Sunday’s NRL grand final, Gerard Sutton, has weighed in on the tension lingering between Panthers coach Ivan Cleary and Rabbitohs mentor Wayne Bennett.
The two coaches are set to lead their respective sides in the decider just three weeks after they engaged in a bristling war of words over a conversation Bennett had had with the referees department.
The tense back-and-forth reached its climax following South Sydney’s 16-10 qualifying final defeat of Penrith, when Bennett hit back at Cleary’s accusation that he had tried to “manipulate” the officials.
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As Sutton closes in on officiating his seventh NRL grand final, he said it was common for coaches to have dialogue with the referees department.
However, he added that what the coaches raised had little impact on how referees officiated games.
“I don’t think it’s unusual (for coaches to approach the referees department). I think every week, probably every game, coaches from clubs are making enquiries about decisions and rulings and interpretations. And there’s always different things trending in the game,” Sutton said on 2GB’s Wide World of Sports radio.
“But our coaches act as filters to that, I suppose, and we don’t really have direct contact or dialogue with the coaches. We depend on the people that are in charge of our group to give us the clear direction and what we need to be doing … So for me, personally, I don’t think it has a huge influence at all.”
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Cleary said during his post-match media conference following the Panthers’ 10-6 preliminary final win over the Storm on Saturday night that, during the lead-up to the decider, he would avoid friction with Bennett.
“Wayne’s the best coach probably of all time, certainly in my memory,” Cleary said.
“I’ll be doing what I’m good at and staying in the background this week.”