{"id":608595,"date":"2026-09-22T22:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T22:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/608595\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T22:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T22:32:10","slug":"axed-ref-klein-set-for-bunker-role-after-warriors-error","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/608595\/","title":{"rendered":"Axed ref Klein set for bunker role after Warriors error"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ashley Klein will remain involved in key decision making in the NRL’s preliminary finals after his costly blunder<\/a> in the Warriors’ loss to Newcastle.<\/p>\n

The experienced referee is set to be the bunker official in Friday’s Dolphins-Sydney Roosters clash at Suncorp Stadium after he was axed from on-field duties following the Knights’ last-gasp 12-10 win in Auckland.<\/p>\n

A veteran of 700 games at Test, NRL, State of Origin and Super League level, Klein was a strong contender to officiate this year’s grand final before he missed a crucial call in Sunday’s clash at Eden Park.<\/p>\n

NRL officials confirmed on Monday that Klein failed to penalise Knights forward Tyson Frizell for an escort in the closing stages of that nailbiting semi-final.<\/p>\n

Warriors fans were seen pelting bottles at the match referees following their playoff loss to the Newcastle Knights. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n

The Warriors would have had an easy chance to kick a penalty to send the game to golden point had Klein not missed the infringement.<\/p>\n

Klein was pelted with projectiles<\/a> as he exited the field. NRL boss Peter V’landys and the referees’ union Professional Rugby League Match Officials (PRLMO) condemned<\/a> his treatment.<\/p>\n

The 47-year-old Klein will be the video review official for on-field referee Adam Gee, who oversaw the Roosters’ semi-final win against the Sharks and appears to be in a two-horse race to officiate the grand final.<\/p>\n

Gerard Sutton will take charge of the other preliminary final between Penrith and Newcastle on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Sutton last refereed a grand final in 2021 while Gee was the man in the middle in 2023.<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including the Taxpayers Union fires back at Nicky Hager, and Liam Lawson’s job change. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ashley Klein will remain involved in key decision making in the NRL’s preliminary finals after his costly blunder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,577,40,38,41,39,3006],"class_list":["post-608595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-nrl","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\/608595","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=608595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}