Last Friday, news broke that the NRL’s premier ref – who has officiated in Origin for years – was investigated by the league after losing a reported $400,000 on the punt.
Klein admitted he had a problem but he and the NRL stressed that he never wagered on footy, only horses and greyhounds.
However, the severity of his problem has led rugby league legends like Mark Geyer and Darryl Brohman to call for him to be stood down from taking charge of tonight’s match.
They argue that his head can’t possibly be properly in the match given the immense scrutiny he has been under over the last few days.
Then there are concerns that while Klein has been cleared by the NRL, he’s far from in the clear with fans.
The league investigated him in 2019, then kept that a secret for seven years.
Now the NRL is saying it can’t explain the steps that have been taken to ensure Klein’s problem didn’t involve betting on footy, and the steps taken to monitor any gambling activity, because it is an ’employment matter’.
That isn’t cutting it with supporters of the code, and rightly so.
At the very least, the scandal is casting a pall over the match and smashing the NRL’s credibility.
