Zachary Honeysett
Ethan Klein, son of leading NRL referee Ashley Klein, has taken another step towards realising his dream of pursuing a professional career as a referee after officiating his first game in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup last weekend.
Ethan, 24, who was named the NSWRL Junior Referee of the year in 2022, was put in charge of the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Warriors match at Redfern Oval on Saturday 31 May.
“It was a pretty competitive fast game,” he told nswrl.com.au.
“It was a lot more structured, the pace wasn’t too significantly different, but you could tell a difference in the quality and standard of play, especially of ball in play and continuity of it from the players.”
Ethan said his father, who attended the match before heading to Redfern for NRL bunker duties, has had a positive influence on his career. Ashley Klein has officiated 413 NRL Premiership games since making his debut in 2009 and recently controlled Game One of the Ampol State of Origin series.
“My Dad attended with the rest of my family and a couple of close friends but in terms of the coaching side of it he doesn't do as much of it as some people would think,” Ethan said.
“It's more the professionalism of it and seeing his day-to-day as a full-time official and what it takes to referee at the highest level.
“Having access to that top-flight of the elite officiating department and small little tips and nuances that may have helped him has been really beneficial.”
Ethan grew up playing soccer, Rugby League and touch football before moving into refereeing after developing a love and passion for the game.
“I was very small as a kid and was never going to make it as a footy player,” he said.
“If I can’t play and I still want to be involved in the game, then refereeing is probably the next best thing.”
Ethan has already ticked off one of his goals for 2025 after officiating a NSW Cup game. He is keen to eventually follow in his father’s footsteps of becoming a NRL referee, but knows that will take more hard work.
“It’s not only my ambition, almost any official’s ambition once you get to that sort of high-performance level is to continue onto that elite side of the game, but yeah, definitely the goal I set out is to progress on towards the NRL.
“It can be a very competitive space, obviously there’s only limited games each week and limited officials. You’re one poor decision away from having a setback.”
