Referee Ashley Klein not up to State of Origin standard, says Wally Lewis

QUEENSLAND great Wally Lewis says referee Ashley Klein is not up to Origin standard as the fallout from the Paul Gallen fight saga continued today.

QUEENSLAND great Wally Lewis says referee Ashley Klein is not up to Origin standard as the fallout from the Paul Gallen fight-night saga continued today.

Whistleblowers Klein and Shayne Hayne have come under fire for failing to take sterner action against Gallen, who rocked Queensland rival Nate Myles with a flurry of punches in NSW's 14-6 victory in Origin I last night.

Gallen was reported for his 39th minute attack on Myles and later levelled with a grade two striking charge, which will see him banned for one week if he submits an early guilty plea.

Maroons coach Mal Meninga believed Gallen deserved to at least be sin-binned and Lewis blasted Klein's general performance on a night where the Blues benefited from a number of contentious calls.

"Everything went right for the Blues early, even the things that were wrong went right for them," he said.

"Even the howler at the start (when Brent Tate was ruled to have knocked-on from a bomb he didn't touch), I was just gobsmacked.

"The incident where the ball went up and he (Klein) called Tate for a knock on, he didn't even get close to it.

"Quite a few people said to me before the game, 'have you guys blown up about the appointment of one of these referees?'

"This game told the story.

"My jaw hit the floor the other day when his name (Klein's) was announced.

"I don't remember his name being listed in the top six referees in the NRL.

"I won't name him but I think we all know who I am talking about. The other one (Hayne) is among the top two or three but how the other bloke was appointed for an Origin game is beyond me."