Initially, though, two things should be noted in reviewing that history and the weekend's furore.

One, the DA's former sports editor Peter Baker rarely published a reporter's copy if it contained a losing official's censure of the referee. Bakes believed players made more mistakes than referees made blunders.

Two, bear in mind that, according to NRL.com reporter Dan Walsh, top-flight referees this season will earn in excess of $300,000 per year under an historic four-year enterprise bargaining agreement. The average wage of NRL players for the season just ended was $330,000.

Why, therefore, should a referee not be held accountable, you might ask?

Veteran reporter Phil Rothfield got closest when he referred to the season's three black marks: refereeing inconsistency, judiciary and match review processes.

He could have added the referees' failure each week to eliminate runners and zambucks running unaccounted for through rucks, attacking players being held down in tackles by two and three defenders and crowded rucks with players of both teams wandering around like Brown's cows.

So, to the 1963 grand final between St George and Wests, from which referee Darcy Lawler was accused by Wests players and officials - especially the team's second rower that day, the famous Jack Gibson - of backing the Saints to win with SP bookmakers. Lawler made some very dubious decisions in favour of the Saints.

Wests' skipper was Arthur Summons, a Wagga resident since shortly after that match. There were two major incidents during a match in which Lawler awarded the Saints 18 penalties to seven.

Lawler ruled "no try" - being about the only person in the record crowd of 69,806 who reckoned Wests' centre Gil McDougall had failed to ground the ball properly.

Fifteen minutes later, Saints winger Johnny King was tackled twice in the same movement but was told by Lawler to "play on". He then scored to give the Saints an 8-3 win. This was the match that photographer John O'Gready snapped Summons and Saints captain-coach Norm Provan in the great photograph from which today's premiership trophy was made.

While time has clouded a few of the details (for which the column enlisted the aid of former Leeton and Darlington Point Group 20 premiership player Barry Briggs and his historical records), G20 president Ron Bornholt once intervened in a grand final referee's appointment.

Officials from Wagga Magpies (coached by Billy Wilson) and Yenda (Mick Kelly) became locked in argument about the referee for the 1957 grand final. Bornholt, it was said, stepped in and offered to find a referee whom, he assured the clubs, no-one would know about until he ran out onto the ground the next Sunday. He promised it would be neither referee to which the clubs objected.

Grand final day arrived and Leeton referee Lenny Lamont ran onto the Narrandera Sportsground and, according to press cuttings, gave an impeccable display as Magpies won 18-12 to complete a premiership hat-trick before the then biggest Group 20 gate of 580 pounds.

Lamont refereed just one other first grade grand final when John Kelly's Griffith Black and Whites defeated Don Furner's Tumbarumba 19-14 in 1961.

About the same era, Mick Jones - a fine referee from Young - caused Tumut players and supporters much anguish - so much so that extra police had to be called to protect him and the touch judges at full-time.

Tumut led 3-2 in a Maher Cup match at Harden with only minutes to go. A Tumut player caught an up-and-under on his 20 metre line and immediately fell un-tackled to the ground. Jones correctly ruled a voluntary tackle. Harden kicked the ensuing penalty goal and retained the cup.

Assessing last weekend's events, former broadcasting and press colleagues seem to agree on a number of things. There is too much technology now of dubious merit, referees have become celebrities, only one referee is needed, the game needs to re-introduce proper scrums, ban a kick on the sixth tackle and, most importantly, if a referee decides "he has a try", as they so often proclaim to the waiting hordes, there ought to be no need for technology to confirm it. Play on!