Ahead of State of Origin game two at the MCG, the focus has widened beyond the on-field contest after details emerged about the NRL’s premier referee—Klein—being investigated following reported losses tied to gambling. Rugby league legends are calling for him
Nathan Cleary is under a health cloud as NSW prepare to chase an Origin series win at the MCG for game two.
But even with a match-day storyline building around fitness. the night has been pulled into something much darker off the field. Last Friday. news broke that the NRL’s premier referee—Klein. who has officiated in Origin for years—was being investigated by the league after he reportedly lost $400. 000 on the punt.
Klein admitted he had a problem. The NRL and Klein have stressed that he never wagered on footy, only horses and greyhounds.
Still. the severity of Klein’s problem is now being treated by some in the code as incompatible with the role he’ll play tonight. Rugby league legends like Mark Geyer and Darryl Brohman have called for him to be stood down from taking charge of the match. Their argument is blunt: his head can’t possibly be properly in the match given the intense scrutiny he’s been under in recent days.
There’s another layer of unease for supporters. Even after Klein was cleared by the NRL, fans remain unconvinced—largely because of how the league handled the past.
The NRL investigated Klein in 2019, then kept that information secret for seven years.
Now the league is saying it can’t explain the steps it took to ensure Klein’s problem didn’t involve betting on footy, or the steps it used to monitor any gambling activity, because it is an “employment matter.”
For supporters of the code, that response has not landed. They see it as insufficient, and they are letting it shape how they view tonight’s whistle even before the first tackle.
The immediate consequence is felt in the atmosphere around Origin game two: whatever the teams do. the match is arriving under a cloud. At the very least. the scandal is casting a pall over the evening and smashing the NRL’s credibility—at a time when fans want the focus to be entirely on the competition.
State of Origin game two MCG NSW Nathan Cleary NRL referee Klein gambling investigation Mark Geyer Darryl Brohman