{"id":900385,"date":"2026-09-21T18:42:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T18:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/900385\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T18:42:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T18:42:17","slug":"nrl-2026-ashley-klein-axed-for-preliminary-finals-after-missed-call-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/900385\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Ashley Klein axed for preliminary finals after missed call"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leading referee Ashley Klein has been axed for this weekend\u2019s preliminary finals as NRL officials concede the Warriors should have been awarded a penalty in the final minute that would have sent their game against the Knights to extra-time.<\/p>\n

Newcastle held on to win 12-10 at a sold-out Eden Park on Sunday night, with three crucial calls in the final stages going against the home side which prompted some fans to throw bottles at the officials as they left the field.<\/p>\n

While the NRL backed two of the controversial rulings after a thorough review on Monday, they confirmed Klein got it wrong by not penalising Knights veteran Tyson Frizell for a clear escort on Leka Halasima as he chased through a kick in the final minute. <\/p>\n

The Warriors were up in arms but couldn\u2019t do anything given they didn\u2019t have a challenge up their sleeve, while they wouldn\u2019t have been able to check it with the bunker given there wasn\u2019t a stoppage in play for an actual decision. <\/p>\n

A penalty goal would have sent the game to extra-time, but instead the Knights were able to hold on to book a date with Penrith in the preliminary final. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was frustrating. I thought they were trying to find ways to take it off us,\u201d Warriors coach Andrew Webster said after his side was eliminated from the finals in straight sets. <\/p>\n

The missed call will cost Klein one of the two grand final qualifiers and puts him at long odds to officiate next week\u2019s decider.<\/p>\n

Klein was in charge of this year\u2019s three State of Origin fixtures but won\u2019t have an on-field role this weekend.<\/p>\n

Adam Gee refereed the other semi-final over the weekend, with Grant Atkins \u2013 the man who was in charge of the 2025 Grand Final \u2013 and Gerard Sutton in the mix for this weekend\u2019s matches. <\/p>\n

While the Frizell decision was wrong, the NRL has backed the bunker for two crucial calls in the second half that went Newcastle\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

The bunker overturned a Knights knock on after spotting a touch by Warriors centre Ali Leiataua, while they were satisfied with the decision to penalise Te Maire Martin for a strip that would have given his side great field position.<\/p>\n

The Knights were the better team on a night the Warriors failed to ice their chances, but the hosts will be left seething that they weren\u2019t given one last chance to save their season. <\/p>\n

Originally published as Leading referee Ashley Klein dumped for preliminary finals after NRL concedes he made a major mistake in New Zealand<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leading referee Ashley Klein has been axed for this weekend\u2019s preliminary finals as NRL officials concede the Warriors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":900386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[468640,468663,468665,468641,468637,468652,381858,467854,468648,420810,394588,468666,468657,378351,380327,468642,468656,468661,467889,468635,420021,468662,468646,76070,54654,64,63,746,10467,10966,147766,16308,32115,83670,468638,377460,468650,291991,468660,7992,468664,468645,468654,417647,390342,13052,761,762,1736,10668,51485,35062,158,468636,415634,468643,16284,38633,74197,13834,418660,85,76104,8825,46527,468634,467818,66184,468658,378533,465908,391687,377514,468644,74713,426766,381886,101147,378658,468659,382332,380184,380298,466981,460256,380344,468655,12644,22514,426530,392730,455442,377161,468649,379782,468651,364611,468639,468653,3198,468647,467888,93597],"class_list":["post-900385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-decider-klein","tag-s-matches","tag-s-preliminary-finals","tag-s-three-state","tag-s-way-the-bunker","tag-12-10","tag-a-challenge","tag-a-clear-escort","tag-a-crucial-penalty","tag-a-date","tag-a-kick","tag-a-knights-knock","tag-a-major-mistake","tag-a-night","tag-a-penalty","tag-a-penalty-goal","tag-a-sold-out-eden-park","tag-a-stoppage","tag-a-strip","tag-a-thorough-review","tag-a-touch","tag-an-actual-decision","tag-an-on-field-role","tag-arms","tag-ashley-klein","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-book","tag-bottles","tag-charge","tag-extra-time","tag-finals","tag-gerard-sutton","tag-grant-atkins","tag-great-field-position-the-knights","tag-his-side","tag-its-leading-referees","tag-klein","tag-klein-one","tag-knights","tag-knights-veteran-tyson-frizell","tag-leading-ref","tag-leading-referee-ashley-klein","tag-leka-halasima","tag-long-odds","tag-monday","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-zealand","tag-newcastle","tag-next-week","tag-night","tag-nrl","tag-nrl-officials","tag-one-last-chance","tag-origin-fixtures","tag-penrith","tag-play","tag-preliminary-finals","tag-referees","tag-some-fans","tag-sports","tag-straight-sets","tag-sunday","tag-te-maire-martin","tag-the-2025-grand-final","tag-the-better-team","tag-the-bunker","tag-the-controversial-rulings","tag-the-decision","tag-the-final-minute","tag-the-final-stages","tag-the-finals","tag-the-frizell-decision","tag-the-game","tag-the-home-side","tag-the-hosts","tag-the-knights","tag-the-man","tag-the-missed-call","tag-the-mix","tag-the-nrl","tag-the-officials","tag-the-other-semi-final","tag-the-preliminary-final","tag-the-second-half","tag-the-two-grand-final-qualifiers","tag-the-warriors","tag-the-weekend","tag-their-chances","tag-their-game","tag-their-loss","tag-their-season","tag-their-sleeve","tag-this-weekend","tag-this-weekend-adam-gee","tag-this-year","tag-three-crucial-calls","tag-two-crucial-calls","tag-warriors","tag-warriors-centre-ali-leiataua","tag-warriors-coach-andrew-webster","tag-ways"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}