You can always do it as a mixin if it is just the setReferencePoint() method you are after (probably not wise to tinker with the display.group prototype …) e.g.
-- setreference point decorating. display.newLine(0,240,320,240):setStrokeColor( 0,1,0 ) display.newLine(160,0,160,480):setStrokeColor( 0,1,0 ) local r = display.newRect(0,0,100,100) r:setFillColor( 0,0,1 ) r.x,r.y = 160,240 r:toBack() r:setStrokeColor(1,1,1) r.strokeWidth = 1 function decorateReference(obj) display.TopLeftReferencePoint = 0 -- Define the required constants. These are done this way to make display.TopCenterReferencePoint = 1 -- the calculation easy. display.TopRightReferencePoint = 2 display.CenterLeftReferencePoint = 3 display.CenterReferencePoint = 4 display.CenterRightReferencePoint = 5 display.BottomLeftReferencePoint = 6 display.BottomCenterReferencePoint = 7 display.BottomRightReferencePoint = 8 obj.setReferencePoint = function(self,refPoint) obj.anchorX = refPoint % 3 / 2 obj.anchorY = math.floor(refPoint / 3) / 2 end return obj end r = decorateReference(r) -- you can chain this e.g. r = decorateReference(display.newRect()) r:setReferencePoint(display.CenterRightReferencePoint)