It wouldn't be footy finals without some sort of controversy, and this season it has come in the form of a refereeing appointment.
It was announced this week that Adam Gee would not oversee any of the first four finals games, despite being one year removed from refereeing the 2023 NRL grand final.
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This decision led to swift outrage from the NRL community, with NRL legend Braith Anasta labelling the decision as 'mind-boggling' during NRL360.
"Adam Gee refereed the grand final, as most of us would remember, in one of the best performances by a referee I would say ever [or] at least in the last decade," Anasta said.
"It was handled brilliantly by him, and full of praise by the rugby league world and then all of a sudden, a year later, he’s not even refereeing week one of the finals.
"Has the game changed that much over 12 months that he doesn’t suit the style they [want]?
"It’s mind-boggling and we don’t have the answers here."
Gordon Tallis agreed with Anasta's sentiment, and also compared Gee to one of the league's all-time great referees.
"He’s a free flowing referee. He’s the closest I’ve seen to Bill Harrigan," Tallis said.
"Yeah they all make mistakes, everybody makes mistakes, [but] I’m surprised that he’s not in the best four referees in the game."
NRL head of football Graham Annesley defended the NRL's choice to exclude Gee, saying the decision on who would referee each game came down to recent form.
"We only have four games this week, and match officials have been selected on form," Annesley said.
"Todd [Smith] has earned his spot based on really solid performances throughout the season.
"We are fortunate to now have more referees capable of controlling finals than we have games available. Competition for positions inevitably drives improved performance and consistency."
