Queenslanders aren’t taking their Game 1 defeat to NSW well.
On the back of losing the opening match on Wednesday night, Queensland media have created a petition to prevent veteran referee Ashley Klein from further Origin duties.
The movement comes after Klein controversially sent off Kalyn Ponga in the 57th minute for a tackle that left Blues debutant Tolu Koula concussed.
The decision, which came when Queensland were 20-6 up, proved costly, with NSW legend Andrew Johns labelling it “outrageous”, while Queensland icon Darren Lockyer was “in shock”.
Klein appeared to overrule his Bunker official, who seemed to suggest a sin bin would have sufficed for Ponga’s shot on Koula.
However, as you can see in the video above, Klein didn’t see it that way. “I get that mate, but he’s hit him in the head there with no attempt to tackle. I know what you’re saying, but it’s an illegal play,” he said.
The fact he overruled the Bunker saw Queensland fans cry foul, with Brisbane newspaper The Courier-Mail launching a petition to get Klein banned from Origin games.
“The Courier-Mail is calling for Ashley Klein to be axed as State of Origin referee after his controversial call to send off Kalyn Ponga on Wednesday night. Ponga was sent off by Klein in the 57th minute for a shoulder charge on Tolu Koula in the Maroons’ heartbreaking Origin I loss at Sydney’s Accor Stadium,” the petition reads.
“The match was Klein’s 13th consecutive Origin in charge and his 21st overall. Today, The Courier-Mail is calling for it to be his last.”
In a matter of hours the petition has received almost 10,000 signatures, with Queenslanders being as level-headed as ever.
“The decision ultimately gave QLD no chance to win the game and completely ruined the game for me. Ashley Klein is born and raised in western Sydney and clearly lacks the ability to be fair and impartial,” one angry Queenslander wrote on the petition.
“The unfairness of Kalyn Ponga being sent of the remainder of the game instead of just being give a 10 minute sin bin and NSW having tackles that should have been penalised,” another clearly unbiased fan added.
While a couple of others called for former Maroons star Corey Parker to ref. “Let Corey Parker ref,” one declared on the petition.
Parker addressed the Klein call on SEN on Thursday and he hadn’t calmed down overnight.
“Origin has been going for 46 years, and there have been seven send-offs in history. Ashley Klein has been responsible for four of them,” Parker said on Thursday morning.
“(Reece) Walsh and (Jarome) Luai in 2023, which was garbage, (Joseph) Suaali’i a year after and now Ponga. Disaster. It has such an effect on the result.
“I called the game, I was measured, and I have now had time to digest.
“After digesting what I witnessed, the still shots we have seen and the wording that goes with it is incorrect.
“The Bunker thought it was incorrect. Klein was still adamant. He called illegal play.
“Hang on a second, if we have this $22m (Bunker) facility with cameras everywhere, then take a leaf out of their book. Surely that’s the last big game Klein gets.”
Maroons great Darren Lockyer was equally frustrated with Klein.
“I’m still in shock over that Ponga decision, that’s the turning point, there will be a lot of people north of the border that struggle with that decision,” Lockyer moaned.
“ … I think Ashley Klein, at the start, when he first (saw) it and heard it, I think he always had this in his mind.
“What I am surprised at, when it went up to the bunker and they’ve reviewed, the bunker was suggesting that it was only 10 minutes. But Ashley Klein didn’t want a bar of it.”
Former Maroons captain Cameron Smith also insisted there was “no way” that the fullback should have been sent off on Channel Nine.
The latest drama comes after Klein was criticised heavily for a lopsided penalty count favouring Queensland in Game 2 of last year’s State of Origin series.
On the back of an eight-to-nothing penalty count, Queensland charged to a 26-6 halftime lead before holding on to 26-24.
It was a loss that would prove crucial, with the Maroons winning the series decider to take the Origin shield. But it appears Queenslanders have a short memory.
Klein is currently the most experienced active State of Origin referee available for selection.
Having controlled over 400 NRL games, he is tied with legendary ref Bill Harrigan for officiating a whopping 21 Origin matches.
However, despite the uproar Ponga and Billy Slater had little problem with the decision.
“It is what it is,” Slater said during his post-match press conference.
“I haven’t got any problems with it.
“He is okay. He feels he has let his team down. Those things happen in games, and they happen really quick. I’ve played that position, I know how hard it is, and in the spur of the moment, things happen, it’s wet out there.”
While Ponga said, “ “At the end of the day, it is what it is. The ref made the call.”
The next Origin clash will take place on Wednesday, June 17, 2026 in Melbourne.
