Klein’s calls fuel Maroons to Perth victory
Ashley Klein’s game-changing first-half in Origin 2 has Blues fans furious and Queenslanders calling for a medal.
by King Cane Toad
Rugby league referee Ashley Klein should be shortlisted for the King’s Birthday honours list after an incredible stellar performance in the second game of the 2025 State of Origin Series held in Perth.
Klein’s amazing first-half performance, during which he awarded an 8-0 penalty count to the Maroons, allowed Queensland to jump out to a 26-6 lead by halftime.
It also gave the Cameron Munster-led Maroons enough of a gap to have a bit of a nap in the second half and finish the game as 26-24 victors.
Klein’s inspirational performance understandably waned in the second half after becoming exhausted after such a dominant powerhouse first 40 minutes.
This gave the Cockroaches had numerous opportunities to claw back the lead in what would have been the Blues’ greatest comeback ever.
Unfortunately, NSW simply forgot to pack a kicker in the kit bag. Two from five conversions attempts was simply not good enough.
The referee’s first-half performance was good enough to ensure Game 3 in Sydney will be an exciting climax to the series.
The consummate performance also ensured Blues fans were sucking on cans of Perth Very Bitter on Wednesday night and spewing in their Cornflakes the morning after.
Klein is already being compared to the late Queensland great Barry Gommersall, who refereed nine State of Origin games in the 1980s. When Gommersall, known as The Grasshopper, was asked how Queensland won seven of the nine Origin games he officiated, he reportedly replied, "Well, surely anyone's entitled to two bad games".
The outstanding performance also raises questions as to other ways Australia and the World could take advantage of Klein’s prodigious talents.
Forget the United Nations and the unbelievable red-headed comb-overed blowhard in Washington, we should send Klein off to solve the Middle East’s problems before he jaunts off to have a quiet chat to Vladamir Putin to encourage him to leave the weapons on the sidelines.
Judging from his Game 2 performance (we won’t mention Game 1), we have absolute faith the Mid East and Ukraine crises would be well over before Wednesday, July 9.
Bring on Origin 3.