From Group 4 to NRL 400: Sutton writing his own history

Gerard Sutton was driving near the bush ground with the rickety posts where he began refereeing as an 11-year-old when he received confirmation of the appointment to control his 400th NRL match.

“It wasn’t planned, it was completely by chance,” Sutton said. “I do a bit of volunteering with RSL LifeCare’s equine program and there was a horse for sale up there. The only chance I had to look at it was if we drove up there on Monday night.

“The bloke’s place was just outside Binnaway so on Tuesday, as that email came in, I was driving past that little ground, with the bent wooden goalposts next to a cow paddock, and I just pulled over. It was like a full circle moment.”

Sutton will join Ben Cummins and Ashley Klein as the only referees to have charge of 400 premiership matches when he oversees Sunday's Round 6 clash between the Newcastle Knights and Wests Tigers clash at McDonald Jones Stadium.

In addition, he has been a touch judge in 54 NRL matches and acted as the video referee or Bunker official on another 90 occasions.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo paid tribute to Sutton for reaching the milestone and other achievements in an officiating career that exemplifies perseverance, determination, endurance and resilience.    

“Gerard has become just the third referee in the history of the game to achieve the 400-game milestone,” Abdo said.

Gerard’s ability and determination has seen him referee 22 State of Origins and 24 Internationals on top of the seven Grand Finals he has refereed in his 400 NRL matches. 

“Gerard has been an excellent referee for 16 years in the game and on behalf of the game I congratulate him on this rare and impressive milestone.”

Introduced to refereeing at a junior league carnival in Binnaway in 1990 while injured and unable to play with his Coonabarabran Unicorns under 12s team-mates, Sutton had always wanted to be an NRL referee.

He got his chance as an NRL touch judge in 2002 but spent the next six seasons in the wilderness before finally receiving a full-time contract and making his debut as a referee in the opening round of the 2009 premiership.

Until then, Sutton had been a journalist, starting as a reporter with the North-West Courier in Narrabri before moving to Sydney to pursue his refereeing dream while working at the Hills News, Blacktown Torch and Parramatta Sun.

“When I finished school, I moved to Narrabri and that is where I did my cadetship in journalism,” Sutton said. “I started refereeing first grade when I was 17, and I did my first grand final when I was 18.

“I was the cadet sports journalist, and you had people in the Group 4 comp like (former Gold Coast and Salford coach) John Harvey, who was coaching Wee Waa at the time.

“I would referee his team on Sunday afternoon and then have to ring him on Monday morning for his thoughts on the game.

“The first grand final I did was between Wee Waa and Werris Creek in 1997, and it went to extra-time and finished in a draw at the end of 100-minutes, so there was a replay the next week and it went to extra-time again.

That week I did the player profiles, I wrote the preview and prepared the Grand Final lift-out for the paper, then refereed the game and wrote the match report. When you think about it now, it was mad.

Refereeing at a senior level in country rugby league gave Sutton experience that his city counterparts of a similar age didn’t have, and he was invited to join the NRL squad for pre-season training in 2000.

After refereeing the 2001 Harold Mathews Cup grand final, Sutton made his NRL debut as a touchjudge in Round 2 of the 2002 season and ran a sideline in finals matches but suffered a dramatic fall from grace in 2003.

Effectively told that he may have a future as a touch judge, but not as a referee, Sutton decided to stick it out in pursuit of his dream anyway.

"I desperately loved it, it was what I had committed to doing since I was 15,” Sutton said.

“I would never have moved to Sydney if not for footy, I moved down here without any family connection or friends, so I felt that if I walked away what does any of that sacrifice mean.

It crossed my mind plenty of times, but whenever I asked the question of myself it was just always that I wouldn’t quit until the absolute last hope had been extinguished.

"From 2003 to 2007 I was just in the wilderness, and refereeing one first grade game looked about as likely as winning Lotto.”

The introduction of the two-referee system in 2009 gave Sutton his chance and he debuted alongside current NRL referee's coach Jared Maxwell in the Round 1 clash between Wests Tigers and Canberra at Campbelltown Stadium.

Since then, he has risen through the ranks and established himself as one of the game's leading referees over a long period of time.

"I just never wanted to be watching a game on TV and saying that could have been me if I had just hung in a bit longer or if there was something else I could have done," Sutton said. 

"When I had made that decision and commitment to myself, as a kid in the bush, there wasn't really a defined pathway, and you were charting your own course.

"The NRL is doing a lot of good things with referee's pathways now and talent ID, with competitions like the Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cups.

"If you are a young referee with a bit of ability, and more importantly the passion to want to progress, you will have the opportunity to be seen a lot earlier and if you are good enough you'll move through, and won't be lost."