Matty Johns drops uncomfortable truth about Origin ‘disgrace'

News.com.au

6 hours ago

Matty Johns has turned the tables on the swirling criticism directed at referee Ashley Klein following Queensland's nail-biting win on Wednesday night in Perth.
There have been calls for Klein to be stripped of officiating duties for the State of Origin series decider with NRL commentators left up in arms over a one-sided penalty count in the Maroons' favour during Game 2 at Optus Stadium.
On the back of the penalty avalanche, Queensland charged to a 26-6 half time lead before holding on for a famous victory, setting up a decider back in Sydney.
Former NSW players Jarryd Hayne and Jamie Soward were among the commentators to be left gobsmacked that the penalty count stood 8-0 in Queensland's favour at half time. The count ended 10-2.
However, Johns on Thursday dropped a brutal truth that the penalty count was justified.
'Us New South Welshman, most people will point to that and go look at that, but I tell you what, we were f***ing undisciplined,' he said on the Backstage with Cooper and Matty Johns podcast.
'That's it. Don't blame the referee. We were undisciplined.'
However, it was the cheap nature of some of the six-again ruck infringement penalties that caught the eye of other commentators on Wednesday night.
Hayne took to X in the first half, posting: 'This is why Origin is the greatest game in this country!!! Regardless of the pressure teams face, it is the team spirit that truly matters.
'Ps 7-0 pen count. Did some individuals attempt to influence the referees to force a decider?'
Former NSW playmaker Soward wrote: 'That will do me. Ash doing his best to get in the way here.'
According to the popular 'Oracle' profile on X, it was the first time in Origin history that a team was awarded the first nine penalties of a match.
There was no doubt the Blues didn't help themselves with poor discipline but such a lopsided penalty count is rare in Origin with penalties usually only blown for blatant transgressions.
Queensland were questioned over meeting with the referee before the first game, so it remains to be seen if they had another chat prior to game two in Perth.
Blues skipper Isaah Yeo was pictured in a tense exchange with Klein during the match, presumably about the penalty count.
Daley was blunt when asked what he thought of the penalty count.
'I can't tell you what I honestly think, so I'm not going to,' Daley said.
Yeo believes there were a number of penalties that were warranted against the Blues, but he believes the 50/50s went against them.
'There's certainly a few that we were shooting ourselves in the foot with and they were just penalties,' Yeo said.
'Other ones are 50-50. Some nights you get them, some nights you don't. So what you can't do is you can't go drop the ball early in the next set early in the tackle count when you've got the ball.
'So obviously I'd like that to be a bit more even, but we were our own worst enemy at times as well.'
However, the biggest enemy for NSW was Zac Lomax's boot.
NSW scored five tries to Queensland's four, but the Eels star hit the posts twice and converted just one two of his five shots on goal.
That's what proved the difference, at least in the eyes of some.
For others, Klein's whistle is being viewed as Queensland's man of the match.
Leading NRL reporter Dean Ritchie wrote on X: 'Well, well, well. Never thought I'd see the perfect Origin team. Penalties: Qld 8 NSW 0.'
He pointed out NSW had to wait 45 minutes to be awarded their first penalty and then went on to score shortly after.
Aussie sports broadcaster Adam Hawse wrote on X: 'Klein's whistle will give us all nightmares, but Blues were own worst enemy in first half. Poor discipline. Poor handling. No control.
'I think Ashley Klein's streak of 11 Origins in a row has come to an end.'