Origin referee Ashley Klein has been urged to put the whistle away and let the Maroons and Blues battle it out in old school slugfest instead of the NRL’s current six-again obsession.
Klein will officiate his 21st Origin fixture on Wednesday night in the series-opener at Accor Stadium in Sydney.
There are fears the game’s showpiece event could be ruined by constant infringements which have plagued the NRL this season and contributed to blowout scores.
The Broncos were on the wrong end of a 9-0 first half penalty count under Klein at Magic Round recently, while the Blues copped a 8-0 first half mauling in Origin II last year.
However, statistics provided by Fox Sports Lab show Klein is near the bottom of the ladder when it comes to awarding penalties and set restarts this season.
In 11 NRL matches this season, Klein has averaged 17.5 infringements per game.
In contrast, Adam Gee is averaging 20.8 penalties and set restarts while last season’s top ref Grant Atkins (19.6) is second on the list.
Of the NRL’s regular referees, only emerging whistleblower Wyatt Raymond (16.2) is averaging fewer infringements per game than Klein.
Former Blues captain Jake Trbojevic hopes Klein stays out of the contest and lets the NRL’s top players go at each other in what’s expect to be a sodden clash.
“I hope it’s old school and they let them go set-for-set and see who’s the best,” he said.
“That’s what State of Origin is about.
“A few ‘six-agains’ in Origin … it’s hard enough as it is.
“I reckon we let it go set-for-set then it’s almost like a boxing match. We’ll see who’s there at the end.”
Queensland coach Billy Slater is expecting the match to be officiated like the NRL has been this year.
“At the end of the day, players have habits that they practise regularly and referees are the same,” he said.
“It’s really hard to turn on a dime and swivel and change the way that you perform your role.
“The referees and the NRL will be thinking the game will be how it is.
“The game’s not refereed how it was back in the 90s. In the 90s it was refereed how the NRL was, and I think that’ll be the same now.”
The new rules and interpretations have been a polarising topic with fans and players.
Maroons captain Harry Grant scoffed when asked how he thought Origin would be officiated.
“Have you got an idea?” he said.
“What I say won’t change anything. We’ll just try and play the game to what it is.”
The Maroons have plenty of strike in the likes of Kalyn Ponga and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow that they will need to unleash to beat the Blues.
Grant denied Melbourne’s struggles this season were in part due to the officiating changes, but said defence wasn’t as important as in previous years.
“You look over the course of the last 20 years, usually the top two defensive teams go on to win the comp,” he said.
“It might have been an exception last year, but the Broncos really finetuned their defence for their back half of the year and they would have been right up there.
“It’s definitely an attacking game now. You see how many points are scored.
“Whether that’s a good thing, I’m not sure. We’ll let the people at home and you guys decide that.”
Travis MeynSports reporter