{"id":607181,"date":"2026-09-21T14:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T14:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/607181\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T14:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T14:02:12","slug":"nrl-set-to-act-over-embarrassing-ref-abuse-after-warriors-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/607181\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL set to act over ’embarrassing’ ref abuse after Warriors loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NRL has been urged to come down hard on supporters who peppered referee Ashley Klein with projectiles as the league’s integrity unit investigates the ugly aftermath of Newcastle’s semi-final win over the Warriors. <\/p>\n

Vision from Eden Park after fulltime in the Knights’ 12-10 victory<\/a> showed Klein being hit<\/a> with a raft of bottles, cups and rubbish as he walked from the field.<\/p>\n

The footage shows Klein having to be protected by security, as fans abused the veteran referee and projectiles rained down on him.<\/p>\n

\"Ashley<\/p>\n

Ashley Klein and Erin Clark. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

The NRL immediately launched an investigation into potential breaches of their spectators’ code of conduct. An Integrity Unit investigator had been at the ground.<\/p>\n

“If found guilty, they will be banned for a period of time from attending NRL games,” ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys told AAP.<\/p>\n

V’landys’ no-nonsense stance was welcomed by the the referee’s union, Professional Rugby League Match Officials (PRLMO), who called on the NRL to come down hard on the Warriors supporters.<\/p>\n

“The safety of all referees and match officials is paramount, and they should be allowed to perform their duties without being placed in harm’s way,” PRLMO chair John Choueifate told AAP.<\/p>\n

“To say I was disappointed is an understatement and call on the NRL to investigate the incident which detracted from an enthralling match. <\/p>\n

“They need to send a very clear message to those responsible and to others in future that this rubbish must be stamped out of the game.”<\/p>\n

New Zealand Police have since confirmed that no arrests were made, with “no issues to note” other than two pitch invaders.<\/p>\n

The Warriors did not respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n

Sunday’s crowd of 48,511 marked the biggest ever for a rugby league match in New Zealand<\/a>, after the NRL made the call to move the game from the Warriors traditional Mt Smart Stadium home. <\/p>\n

The fan abuse came after two contentious calls went against the Warriors late in the match, including a decision not to penalise Tyson Frizell for an escort in the dying minutes.<\/p>\n

Warriors great Shaun Johnson hit out at the fans’ response after the match, labelling it “embarrassing”.<\/p>\n

“It leaves a bit of a sour taste in your mouth, what has been an unbelievable night with the colours, the energy, the happiness and celebration,” Johnson said on Sky NZ’s coverage.<\/p>\n

“But there is just no need for it. It’s just embarrassing.<\/p>\n

“Ashley Klein has probably refereed the best game of rugby league I have seen in a long time tonight.<\/p>\n

“He didn’t take any gamesmanship in terms of people laying down. He didn’t let people approach him whinging. <\/p>\n

“He didn’t make the game about him. He let the players come and play and they dictated the outcome.”<\/p>\n

Warriors coach Andrew Webster had vented his frustration in the post-match press conference, highlighting a bunker strip call on Te Maire Martin and the decision not to penalise Frizell for a possible escort on Leka Halasima. <\/p>\n

The incident comes after AFL umpires also had cans thrown at them while leaving the MCG after Hawthorn’s tight loss to Brisbane in Saturday night’s preliminary final.<\/p>\n

The AFL has also condemned the behaviour and warned of minimum five-year bans for any fans found responsible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NRL has been urged to come down hard on supporters who peppered referee Ashley Klein with projectiles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[51,42,43,40,38,41,39,3006],"class_list":["post-607181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-auckland","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-warriors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}