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Gerard Sutton will referee his 20th straight State of Origin in the series opener, putting him on course to break Bill Harrigan's record.
Gerard Sutton is poised to overtake Bill Harrigan as the most-capped State of Origin referee if he holds his spot for the entire 2021 series.
Sutton was on Tuesday confirmed as the whistleblower for next Wednesday's series opener in Townsville, making his 20th straight appointment.
In doing so he becomes just the second referee to chalk up the milestone and will equal Harrigan's tally of 21 if he keeps his spot for Brisbane.
Harrigan still does hold some point of difference, having been the sole referee in all 21 of his appearances, with the first 16 of Sutton's coming with two officials.
"Gerard refereed the NRL Grand Final and all three State of Origins in 2020 and deserves the opportunity to take charge of the first match of the Origin series in 2021," referees boss Jared Maxwell said.
"I thought Gerard refereed extremely well in the 2020 Origin series and on the back of that display I have absolute confidence that we've got the right team to do the job in game one.
"Gerard's form in 2021 has been extremely consistent, confident and showing the high level of authority which should allow the players to excel on this stage."
Ashley Klein has been appointed in the bunker while Grant Atkins is the standby referee.
Meanwhile Sutton's appointment comes after his brother Bernard left his role as referee's boss at the end of last season.
Gerard's job will arguably be even harder this year with the game still trying to find as much consistency as possible in the crackdown against foul play.
It comes after Ben Cummins claimed the record for the most premiership matches, overtaking Harrigan's record of 393 games.
Harrigan still holds the record for the most grand finals at 10 and Test matches at 25.