Referee Ashley Klein has been reportedly dumped from the NRL preliminary finals after he failed to award a crucial escort penalty in the final minute of the Warriors loss to the Knights at Eden Park.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the NRL conceded a penalty should have been awarded to the Warriors, which would have provided the chance to send their game into extra point.
The Warriors contacted the NRL on Monday morning to discuss a number of contentious calls in their 12-10 loss to Newcastle, particularly why Tysom Frizell was not punished for blocking the path of a leaping Leka Halasima.
Klein will not be selected to officiate either of the two preliminary finals this weekend but remains in contention to referee the grand final.
It comes after fans fired projectiles at Klein in the aftermath of the Warriors’ 12-10 loss to the Knights.
Footage from after the game showed bottles, cups and rubbish being thrown at Klein by supporters as he was escorted from the field with security.
The NRL said it had launched an investigation into potential breaches of spectators’ code of conduct following the match.
Warriors great Shaun Johnson hit out at the "embarrassing" fan response, saying there was “just no need for it”.
"Ashley Klein has probably refereed the best game of rugby league I have seen in a long time tonight,” Johnson said of Sunday's game.
"He didn't make the game about him. He let the players come and play and they dictated the outcome."
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