The referees for the 2019 State of Origin series, which was won by the New South Wales Blues, can be found below.
Gerard Sutton and Ashley Klein were named to officiate all three matches of the 2019 series after they took care of all of 2018’s games. They had a controversial night in the final match, blowing 12 penalties in the first half before only awarded two in the second.
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The officiating group remained the same between Games 1 and 2, with the exception of Grant Atkins and Michael Wise taking over the standby positions. The exact same panel that took care of Game 2 was named for the decider, despite a poor week at club level for Sutton.
State of Origin Game 3 referees
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assistant Referee: Ashley Klein
Touch Judges: Chris Butler, Nick Beashel
Senior Review Official: Jared Maxwell
Review Official: Ben Galea
Standby Referee: Grant Atkins
Standby Touch Judge: Michael Wise
State of Origin Game 2 referees
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assistant Referee: Ashley Klein
Touch Judges: Chris Butler, Nick Beashel
Senior Review Official: Jared Maxwell
Review Official: Ben Galea
Standby Referee: Grant Atkins
Standby Touch Judge: Michael Wise
State of Origin Game 1 referees
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assistant Referee: Ashley Klein
Touch Judges: Chris Butler, Nick Beashel
Senior Review Official: Jared Maxwell
Review Official: Ben Galea
Standby Referee: Ben Cummins
Standby Touch Judge: Chris Sutton
Previous State of Origin referees
2018
The State of Origin referees for Game 3 of the 2018 series were announced on July 3. Queensland won the match 18-12, but NSW were victorious across the length of the series having won the first two matches.
State of Origin Game 3 referees
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assistant Referee: Ashley Klein
Touch Judges: Chris Butler, Brett Suttor
Senior Review Official: Steve Chiddy
Review Official: Ben Galea
Standby Referee: Ben Cummins
Standby Touch Judge: Nick Beashel
The line-up of officials for Game 3 was once again virtually the same – with the only change being Chris Butler taking Nick Beashel’s place as one of the touch judges.
Given the lack of any real refereeing controversies in Origin 2 – or with any of the Origin referees at club level – reaction to the officials line-up was relatively calm.
State of Origin Game 2 referees
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assistant Referee: Ashley Klein
Touch Judges: Nick Beashel, Brett Suttor
Senior Review Official: Steve Chiddy
Review Official: Ben Galea
Standby Referee: Ben Cummins
Standby Touch Judge: Chris Butler
An unchanged line-up of officials was selected for Game 2 after Game 1 took place without any enormous refereeing controversies.
Once again, the selection of Ashley Klein generated some conversation, especially given he’d made some contentious calls in the Tigers-Raiders game a week prior.
State of Origin Game 1 referees
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assistant Referee: Ashley Klein
Touch Judges: Nick Beashel, Brett Suttor
Senior Review Official: Steve Chiddy
Review Official: Ben Galea
Standby Referee: Ben Cummins
Standby Touch Judge: Chris Butler
There was plenty of controversy around the referees selected for Game 1. While there were no complaints about Gerard Sutton’s appointment, the omission of Matt Cecchin, widely considered one of the best whistleblowers in the game, raised plenty of eyebrows.
This was only exacerbated by the appointment of Ashley Klein, who was demoted earlier in the year for a crucial mistake in a match between the Broncos and Tigers.
2017
The State of Origin referees in Game 3 of the 2017 series, which was won by Queensland 22-6, had no change to the group listed for the first two games.
Matt Cecchin and Gerard Sutton were again named control the game, with Brett Suttor and Chris Butler on the sidelines, while Bernard Sutton led the team in the bunker.
The complete list of Origin 3 match officials is as follows:
State of Origin Game 3 referees
Referee: Matt Cecchin
Assist Referee: Gerard Sutton
Senior Review Official: Bernard Sutton
Review Official: Ben Galea
Touch Judges: Brett Suttor, Chris Butler
Standby Referee: Alan Shortall
Standby Touch Judge: Michael Wise
For Game 2, which was won 18-16 by the Queensland Maroons, there were no changes from the officiating team which took the field in the series opener.
State of Origin Game 2 referees
Referee: Matt Cecchin
Assist Referee: Gerard Sutton
Senior Review Official: Bernard Sutton
Review Official: Ben Galea
Touch Judges: Brett Suttor, Chris Butler
Standby Referee: Alan Shortall
Standby Touch Judge: Michael Wise
An identical team of whistle-blowers was named for the first game of 2017, which the NSW Blues won 28-4 at Suncorp Stadium.
State of Origin Game 1 referees
Referee: Matt Cecchin
Assist Referee: Gerard Sutton
Senior Review Official: Bernard Sutton
Review Official: Ben Galea
Touch Judges: Brett Suttor, Chris Butler
Standby Referee: Alan Shortall
Standby Touch Judge: Michael Wise
You can find more information about the 2017 State of Origin fixtures as well as the full 2017 NRL draw right here on The Roar.
2016 State of Origin series
Game 3
Gerard Sutton and Ben Cummins were announced as the referees for the third game of the State of Origin series which was played at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday, July 13.
Sutton was in charge of all three games in the 2015 series, with Ben Cummins the assistant referee. With relatively little controversy in the 2016 series around referees, they were retained and officiated their seventh straight game.
Game 3 Match officials
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assist Referee: Ben Cummins
Touch Judges: Jeff Younis and Michael Wise
Senior Review Official: Bernard Sutton
Review Officials: Luke Patten, Ashley Klein
Standby Referee: Gavin Badger
Standby Touch Judge: Nick Beashel
Game 2
Gerard Sutton and Ben Cummins were announced as the referees for the second game of the State of Origin series to be played at Suncorp Stadium Wednesday, June 22.
Sutton was in charge of all three games in last year’s series, with Ben Cummins the assistant referee. NSW coach Laurie Daley complained about both referees’ performance after Game 1, but referees boss Tony Archer was happy to keep them in charge for the second Game.
Game 2 Match officials
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assist Referee: Ben Cummins
Touch Judges: Brett Suttor, Nick Beashel
Senior Review Official: Bernard Sutton
Review Officials: Luke Patten, Ashley Klein
Standby Referee: Gavin Badger
Standby Touch Judge: Michael Wise
Game 1
Gerard Sutton and Ben Cummins were the referees for the first game of the State of Origin series, which was played at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday, June 1.
Sutton was in charge of all three games in last year’s series, with Ben Cummins the assistant referee.
Game 1 Match officials
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assist Referee: Ben Cummins
Touch Judges: Nick Beashel, Jeff Younis
Senior Review Official: Bernard Sutton
Review Officials: Luke Patten, Ashley Klein
Standby Referee: Gavin Badger
Standby Touch Judge: Michael Wise
State of Origin referees history
Gerard Sutton has been announced as the head referee for the third match match of the 2015 State of Origin series. Ben Cummins has been announced as assistant referee, with Bernard Sutton and Luke Patten the Video Referees. Matt Cecchin is on standby. This group is the same as the second match in the series.
Game 3 match officials
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assist Referee: Ben Cummins
Video Referees: Bernard Sutton and Luke Patten
Touch Judges: Nick Beashel and Brett Suttor
Standby Referee: Matt Cecchin
Standby Touch Judge: Michael Wise
Game 2 match officials
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assistant Referee: Ben Cummins
Video Referees: Bernard Sutton and Luke Patten
Touch Judges: Nick Beashel and Brett Suttor
Standby referee: Matt Cecchin
The match officials for the second 2015 Holden State of Origin match, on June 17, are:
Game 1 match officials
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Assistant Referee: Ben Cummins
Video Referees: Bernard Sutton and Luke Patten
Touch Judges: Nick Beashel and Brett Suttor
Standby referee: Matt Cecchin
Hear from The Roar‘s referees expert, Dan Eastwood, on what it’s like to officiate in a State of Origin match
2014 State of Origin series
Shayne Hayne and Ben Cummins have been appointed by the NRL to referee Game 2 of the 2014 State of Origin series. They have been reappointed after officiating in Game 1 as well.
In the 2013 State of Origin series Hayne and Ashley Klein refereed Game I and Game II, with Ben Cummins replacing Klein for the decider held at ANZ Stadium, Sydney.
Game 3 match officials
Referee: Ben Cummins. Assist Referee: Gerard Sutton
Touch Judges: Jason Walsh and Steve Carrall
Video Referees: Bernard Sutton and Luke Patten
Standby Referee: Ashley Klein
Standby Touch Judge: Brett Suttor
Game 2 match officials
Referee: Shayne Hayne. Assist Referee: Ben Cummins
Touch Judges: Russell Turner and Nick Beashel
Video Referees: Steve Clark and Luke Patten
Standby Referee: Gerard Sutton
Standby Touch Judge: Jason Walsh
Game 1
Referees: Shayne Hayne and Ben Cummins
Touch Judges: Russell Turner and Nick Beashel
Video Referees: Steve Clark and Luke Patten
Standby Referee: Gerard Sutton. Standby Touch Judge: Jason Walsh.
