Despite the vehement protestations of NSW coach Laurie Daley, referees Ben Cummins and Gerard Sutton have been retained for State of Origin II. The experienced duo, who controlled every Origin game last year and the 2015 grand final, have been appointed to officiate game two next week in Brisbane. When asked what he based his thoughts on, Daley replied: "Based on history and based on that game. However, the NRL and referees boss Tony Archer have not given in to Daley's demands. "Put it this way, I will be asking for those two referees to not officiate in game two ... there's your story," Daley said at the time.

Source: New Zealand Herald June 14, 2016 07:41 UTC