Ashley Klein has survived a refereeing howler that robbed Parramatta of a crucial penalty last weekend to retain the whistle for Friday night’s massive preliminary final between Manly and Souths.
Klein will referee the blockbuster despite NRL head of football Graham Annesley admitting the officials made a crucial error in the Eels semi-final loss to Penrith.
Meanwhile, the Panthers private point of contention with Gerard Sutton officiating when they play the Storm is set to continue in their grand final qualifier on Saturday night.
The Panthers won’t declare it publicly, but they believe Sutton has been hoodwinked by Melbourne’s at-times spoiling tactics in their most recent clashes.
The undertone of tension dates back to last year’s grand final where Penrith halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai were silenced in the 2020 showdown by the relentless pressure of influential Storm and Maroons stars Cameron Munster, Christian Welch and Felise Kaufusi.
The anxiety even progressed to this year’s State of Origin series where many of the Penrith and Storm players were involved, leading to a nervous NSW worrying about Sutton’s ability to keep the Maroons on-side.
The Storm had won their past eight clashes under Sutton going into this season.
The retention of Klein - and overlooking of next-in-line referee Adam Gee - is on the basis that the decision not to penalise Panthers star Jarome Luai for pulling back halfback Mitchell Moses chasing in support, was a mistake by the sideline official - not Klein.
“This should have been a penalty – I don’t believe it warranted more than a penalty because it wasn’t a professional foul in a try-scoring situation,” Annesley said.
“This is a miss by the touch judge in this case – back play is the realm of the touch judge and it’s a miss, there’s no question about that.”
Klein will referee the blockbuster despite NRL head of football Graham Annesley admitting the officials made a crucial error in the Eels semi-final loss to Penrith.
Meanwhile, the Panthers private point of contention with Gerard Sutton officiating when they play the Storm is set to continue in their grand final qualifier on Saturday night.
The Panthers won’t declare it publicly, but they believe Sutton has been hoodwinked by Melbourne’s at-times spoiling tactics in their most recent clashes.
The undertone of tension dates back to last year’s grand final where Penrith halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai were silenced in the 2020 showdown by the relentless pressure of influential Storm and Maroons stars Cameron Munster, Christian Welch and Felise Kaufusi.
The anxiety even progressed to this year’s State of Origin series where many of the Penrith and Storm players were involved, leading to a nervous NSW worrying about Sutton’s ability to keep the Maroons on-side.
The Storm had won their past eight clashes under Sutton going into this season.
The retention of Klein - and overlooking of next-in-line referee Adam Gee - is on the basis that the decision not to penalise Panthers star Jarome Luai for pulling back halfback Mitchell Moses chasing in support, was a mistake by the sideline official - not Klein.
“This should have been a penalty – I don’t believe it warranted more than a penalty because it wasn’t a professional foul in a try-scoring situation,” Annesley said.
“This is a miss by the touch judge in this case – back play is the realm of the touch judge and it’s a miss, there’s no question about that.”
