Maroons star makes stunning claim about Ashley Klein’s refereeing

He might have been on the winning side, but one Origin star let slip his true feelings towards Ashley Klein after some odd calls in Game 3.

Queensland didn’t hold back in Origin Game 3, and neither did Maroons prop Josh Kerr the next morning.

After a resounding 24-12 victory over the Blues in Sydney on Wednesday night, the Dolphins prop who was with the Maroons in the 20-man squad was clearly having a bit of light hearted fun with the cameras the next morning with some shocking words.

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“I’m not sure how much trouble I could get into for saying it, but jeez I thought Ash Klein did a bit to try and - you know - even it up or make it a bit closer,” Kerr said.

“We were sitting there (on the sideline) going, ‘it’s rorted, the game’s rorted’.

“I haven’t got the best eyesight at times but I’m watching forward passes and sh*t. We were all on the sideline just going, ‘oh, no, it’s a double agent’.

“It makes it more exciting, doesn’t it, and it brings out the Queenslander in all those players.”

The comments, while clearly good natured and in banter, may land Kerr in some trouble with the NRL, who have put the foot down on referee criticism this year.

The crackdown has lead to a lot of teams biting their tongues in a bid to avoid heavy fines.

Josh Kerr made some stunning admissions about referee Ashley Klein after his side’s Origin win. Photo: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images.

Various coaches in the NRL this season have admitted to not revealing their true feelings towards referee decisions because of this, but it hasn’t stopped the league from coming down hard with official warnings.

Klein has been at the centre of much of the criticism, including Origin 2 which saw a skewed penalty count of 10-2 in favour of the Maroons.

Despite this, Klein was picked again to officiate the decider in a move that frustrated fans.

Klein received criticism following Game 2 but was still selected by the NRL to adjudicate Game 3. Photo Jeremy Ng/Getty Images.

Kerr helped in sending out Josh Papali’i with the series shield. Photo: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images.

NSW won the penalty count 7-3 in Game 3, with some questionable calls going their way while trailing 20-0 that Kerr took as Klein’s attempts to keep the home side in the game.

Kerr himself didn’t play in the decider but trained with the side all week and watched from the sidelines before joining the post-match celebrations.

The prop could also be seen chairing fellow prop Josh Papali’i off the ground after the Canberra star accepted Billy’s call to come out of representative retirement and rally Queensland take home the series.

Kerr is off-contract but has been in the best form of his career at the Dolphins which earned him a spot in Billy Slaters extended squad.