Gerard Sutton denies he will be more lenient during Sunday's NRL grand final, describing claims that officials put the whistle in their pockets for big matches as a furphy.
Sutton and Ashley Klein were on Tuesday appointed to oversee the season decider between Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters at ANZ Stadium.
The pair are seen as the game's top whistleblowers having refereed all three games of this year's State of Origin series.
It will be Sutton's fourth grand final and Klein's first.
Sutto, and assistant Klein, will be under the microscope for the biggest game of the year, but said they were treating it as any other game.
Critics of match officials argue that finals and Origins are handled differently and played are given more leeway.
Some pointed to Origin I when, in the midst of a Rugby League Central-ordered crackdown on the ruck and 10m, only five penalties were blown.
"I think it's a bit of a misconception," Sutton said.
"I think what happens, certainly in Origin, you get the best 34 players in the competition. So naturally when they come together the ball sticks a little bit better, there's more continuity and they're probably a bit quicker to adapt to the standard that's set.
"Certainly our approach to going out and refereeing isn't any different."
Sutton also refused to crack down on the strip, declaring contested football good for the game and something fans want to see.
That's despite a jump in incidents over the last two weeks of the finals.
In Souths' semi-final win over St George Illawarra, Cameron Murray's one-on-one strip on Leeson Ah Mau directly led to Adam Reynolds' field goal to lock up the scores with three minutes remaining.
And in the Roosters' preliminary final win over the Rabbitohs, both sides were clearly out to attack the ball, a trend which caught the eye of fans and commentators.
"The rule change moving to two players being able to be part of a tackle, and then one drop off, and still being able to strip the ball has definitely resulted in more one-on-one strips at the back end of games where the team is behind," Sutton said.
"From a fan perspective, a bit of contested possession isn't a bad thing.
"Whereas before it was really challenging (to strip the ball).
"Players are getting better at knowing when there's two in there and they're telling their mate to drop off the tackle and make an attempt at the football."
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