Warriors hooker Issac Luke has lashed out at the NRL's 'demotion' of underfire referee Gerard Sutton to his side's match against the Gold Coast Titans.
Sutton was subject to plenty of criticism after his performance during Saturday's contest between the Canberra Raiders and the Cronulla Sharks, where some costly decisions likely put an end to the Raiders' hopes of a top-eight finish.
On Tuesday, the NRL released a statement confirming that Sutton would be "assigned to a lower-profile match" - that fixture is the Warriors and Titans game.
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It was widely expected that Sutton would be axed altogether from this weekend's round of NRL action.
Luke took to Twitter to vent his frustrations, calling the incident an "insult" in a post he's since deleted.
"Just found out the low profile game is the Warriors vs Titans," Luke wrote.
"What an insult. NRL go uppercut yourself. That's disrespectful to both teams."
The Warriors are currently sitting eighth on the NRL ladder and are facing a critical final stretch of their campaign as they try to secure their first playoffs berth in eight years.
Broadcaster and Panthers boss Phil Gould was another who expressed his bewilderment at the decision, which he labelled "demeaning".
"To describe it as demotion is demeaning to teams involved," Gould wrote on Twitter.
"It highlights naivety, insensitivity, inexperience. All the things that have referees in the situation they currently find themselves. All this can be fixed. I honestly believe it. But I can't see these people fixing it."
Warriors CEO Cameron George declined to make any comment on the matter, stating the team's "sole focus is on our performance against the Titans and preparing the best we can."
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