League: Warriors star Issac Luke slams NRL over referee 'insult'

Issac Luke of the Warriors. Photo / Getty

New Zealand Warriors star Issac Luke has hit out at the NRL after a report that under-fire referee Gerard Sutton was "demoted" to their vital clash against the Titans.

Luke shared a screenshot of a NRL.com article saying that Sutton had been "assigned to a lower-profile match", calling it "an insult".

"Just found out the low profile game is the Warriors v Titans. What an insult. @NRL uppercut yourself. That's dispresectful [sic] to both teams," Luke tweeted.

Luke later deleted the tweet, but the Warriors' official Twitter account had already raised the question about the news.

Relegated? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/rbAwrp9bcU

— One NZ Warriors (@NZWarriors) July 24, 2018

Sutton, who controlled this year's State of Origin series, was "spared the axe" following blunders in Canberra's defeat to Cronulla.

But Sutton has been posted to the Gold Coast for Sunday's clash as punishment for the mistakes. Senior review official Luke Patten was similarly "demoted" while two other officials were dropped.

The NRL's head of football Brian Canavan said: "Gerard Sutton is one of our best referees and it makes sense to keep using him in the top grade...overall his form has been strong this season."