‘Nothing untoward’: Ivan Cleary confirms approaching referee

Referee Ashley Klein was continually dragged into verbal stoushes with James Maloney, Panthers captain James Tamou — even coach Ivan Cleary.

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Ashley Klein will wake Monday morning with his ears still bleeding.

Head ringing, too.

And all thanks to that unmistakable drawl of Penrith’s James Maloney sounding — or more specifically, complaining — over and over on continuous loop.

And why?

Well, on an afternoon where the Panthers were chasing eight straight wins against Canberra, it was referee Klein who emerged as the more contentious adversary — with the whistleblower continually dragged into verbal stoushes with Maloney, Panthers captain James Tamou, even coach Ivan Cleary.

Indeed, Cleary confirmed to journalists afterwards that he had broken with NRL protocol and approached the whistleblower as he headed up the tunnel at half-time.

Asked about the confrontation, which was revealed during the Fox Sports broadcast, the coach said: “I actually went to speak to our captain Jimmy Tamou to get him to talk to the referees, which he did.”

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Panthers coach Ivan Cleary. Picture: AAP

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So you didn’t say anything to the match officials yourself?

“I might’ve spoken to them, yeah,” Clearly deadpanned.

“Possibly. But it wasn’t ... you can ask them, it was nothing untoward.”

But still, you were frustrated, right?

Had to be given this was a game where, by the finish, Panthers centre Dean Whare had been sin binned, Canberra fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad handed a contentious try and poor ‘ol Jimmy Maloney ... well, he was threatened with 10 minutes himself if he didn’t shut up.

And still, the Panthers No.6 kept at Klein, saying of perceived Raiders defensive infringements: “You’ve got to understand there are intentions behind what they’re doing”.

So as for what Cleary asked at the break?

“I just wanted to clarify something,” the coach continued.

“Which probably happens every week. You try to get some clarification around certain things.”

James Maloney was threatened with the sin bin. Picture: AAP

Cleary also shrugged off the ongoing verbals between his No.6 and Klein — “there was no concerns, no more than any other day” — while also refusing to be drawn further on the half-time showdown.

“Like I said, that’s like most other games this year,” he shrugged of the lineball calls that went against his team.

“But I can’t sit here when we’ve lost and have a whinge about it.

“There were some but they’re in every game.

“And if there are line-ball calls, your captain goes and asks stuff. So c’mon guys, it’s not a big deal. And I’m sure if you ask the refs they would say the same thing.”

So The Daily Telegraph did.

With an NRL spokesman confirming Head of Football Graham Annesley had, on Sunday evening, contacted referees boss Bernard Sutton and asked that he speak with all officials involved.

Should any of the group regard the Cleary approach as an incident, they would be asked to provide a written report by Monday morning.

Referee Ashley Klein. File photo

It is understood, however, the referees are saying they did not hear anything that Cleary said, so the chances of a report are unlikely.

So as for why the Panthers winning run was halted?

“We conceded points too easily in the context of the game,” the coach continued.

“It was as simple as that.

“And it happened from their first try to the last, really. In the context of a tough game, they just seemed to be able to score tries in different ways, but too easily.”

Cleary also pointed to a pair of Raiders strips on tackle ones.

“They’re probably the best in the business at that,” Cleary conceded.

“We discussed it but, yeah, there was a couple of big ones today.

“One straight after a try and, when fighting to get some field position in that second half, play one off a scrum near halfway. They were big momentum changers.”