NRL Backs Referee's Decision to Send Off Kalyn Ponga

The NRL has supported Ashley Klein's controversial decision to send off Kalyn Ponga in State of Origin I. Ponga was sent off for a shoulder charge on NSW's Tolu Koula. The NRL says it will "make no apology for taking strong action on foul play". The NRL has backed State of Origin referee Ashley Klein, saying his decision to send off Queensland fullback Kalyn Ponga was the correct call. Klein sent Ponga from the field during the second half of Origin I in Sydney on Wednesday night. Ponga's tackle on NSW winger Tolu Koula was judged as a shoulder charge with direct contact to the head. The controversy around the decision was further inflamed when the match review committee charge sheet only cited Ponga with a grade-two shoulder charge, allowing him to escape with a fine. A grade-three shoulder charge would have ruled Ponga out of Origin II with a three-week ban. But the NRL supported the match-altering call by Klein, which allowed the Blues to turn a 20-6 deficit into a 22-20 victory. "The NRL supports Ashley Klein's decision to send off Kalyn Ponga during State of Origin Game One," NRL GM of elite competitions Graham Annesley said in a statement on Thursday. "This incident involved clear and forceful shoulder-to-head and head-to head contact with no mitigating factors. Player safety is extremely important and the game will make no apology for taking strong action on foul play." According to the NRL, bunker official Chris Butler told Klein it was "at least a sin-bin" but under the laws of the game the match referee had the final say on foul play. Annesley explained a change to the judiciary code in 2022 meant incidents during representative matches were treated differently. This is why Ponga avoided a two-match ban, which is the outcome for a grade-two charge in a regular NRL match. "The judiciary reforms are designed to directly penalise the player responsible for foul play during State of Origin, rather than their NRL club," Annesley said.