It happens this time every year as we enter the business end of the NRL season as clubs and coaches go looking for any little advantage they can get.
Most often it will involve them trying to put pressure on the referees.
Last week colleague Dean Bulldog Ritchie reported that Canterbury officials had been compiling a dossier on senior referee Gerard Sutton.
It was revealed that the Bulldogs had won just four from 21 games since Good Friday, 2015, and two from their past 16 matches under Sutton.
So to save all the other clubs from going to the same trouble of compiling their own dossiers, we’ve done the homework for them.
Six-again, play on.
We’ve taken the stats from the last four years, leading up to round 21 season, for all 17 clubs.
As it turns out Sutton is not necessarily Canterbury’s ‘bogey’ referee.
In fact they have never won a game under Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski, who has controlled five of their games in the last four years.
At the other end of the scale there are clubs that have unbeaten records under certain referees.
The Penrith Panthers have never lost under Chris Butler in seven games.
The Rabbitohs also have perfect records under Chris Sutton and Chris Butler.
Obviously the struggling clubs, like the Bulldogs before this year, have the worst percentages because they lose more often.
The Wests Tigers have only a 10 per cent record (one win in 10 games) under Peter Gough.
The Dragons are just 14.3 per cent under Ashley Klein (one win from seven games).
Team | Referee You Want | Referee You Don’t Want
Brisbane Broncos | Peter Gough 75% | Adam Gee 30%
Canberra Raiders | Chris Sutton 84.6% | Todd Smith 33.3%
Canterbury Bulldogs | Liam Kennedy 40% | Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski 0%
Cronulla Sharks | Chris Sutton 84.6% | Ashleigh Klein 41.2%
Dolphins | Chris Buttler 80% | Peter Gough 20%
Gold Coast Titans | Peter Gough 55.6% | Chris Buttler 18.8%
Manly Sea Eagles | Peter Gough 57.1% | Chris Sutton 20%
Melbourne Storm | Peter Gough 87.5% | Adam Gee 53.3%
Newcastle Knights | Grant Atkins 60% | Chris Sutton 28.6%
North Queensland Cowboys | Chris Buttler 80% | Chris Sutton 25%
Parramatta Eels | Peter Gough/Todd Smith 66.7% | Adam Gee 27.3%
Penrith Panthers | Chris Buttler 100% | Todd Smith 55.6%
South Sydney Rabbitohs | Chris Sutton/Chris Buttler 100% | Grant Atkins 36.8%
Sydney Roosters | Grant Atkins 70% | Gerard Sutton 36.8%
St George Illawarra Dragons | Gerard Sutton 50% | Ashley Klein 14.3%
New Zealand Warriors | Liam Kennedy 60% | Gerard Sutton 16.7%
Wests Tigers | Adam Gee 41.7% | Peter Gough 10%
At the end of the day the worst clubs have the worst percentages because they have the worst discipline.
And the best clubs have the best percentages because they have the best discipline.
It’s as simple as that.
And as for the Bulldogs, it’s not as if they need to be leaking dossiers.
Their performance against the Broncos on Saturday afternoon was magnificent.
You look back at their record from around 12 months ago.
In round 18 they were thrashed and bashed 66-0 by Newcastle.
Most thought they were facing a long, slow and painful rebuild over a number of years.
Dare I say it – a five-year-plan.
Somehow Cameron Ciraldo has fast tracked it all.
The victory over the Broncos was as impressive as any performance I’ve seen from any team this year.
DOGS OF AWE as the headline screamed on the front page of the Sunday Tele sports section.
No Stephen Crichton, no Josh Addo-Carr, no Max King and no Jaeman Salmon. No bloody worries.
This football side is headed for the top four and anything can happen from there.
And they don’t need any help from the refs.
