Rugby league legend James Graham is under investigation after he launched a tirade at referee Ashley Klein in the NRL play-offs.
Graham, a proud Englishman, went back to his roots and went full Mick Morgan as he commentated on Canterbury Bulldogs’ defeat against Penrith Panthers, labelling Klein as a “bottleless git”.
Rugby league fans will remember Mick Morgan’s infamous commentary on the game between Castleford Tigers and Wigan Warriors when he labelled the referee, David Campbell, as a “bottleless git” for only showing a yellow card instead of a red.
Morgan, a former Castleford player, was the club commentator and so had an understandable bias and Graham, a former Canterbury player, couldn’t hide his own bias as he hit out at Ashley Klein for not awarding a sin bin.
Just 90 seconds into the play-off eliminator between Canterbury and Penrith, the Bulldogs’ Viliame Kikau charged down the kick and found himself in a foot race with Dylan Edwards to collect the ball and possibly score.
Around 25 metres out, Edwards brought Kikau down without the ball but Ashley Klein ruled against a sin bin or possible penalty try, much to the disgust of Graham and the confusion of his co-commentators.
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Rugby League icon James Graham hits out at referee
Working for Triple M Radio, who have since confirmed that they will investigate the audio, Graham made a number of outbursts and jibes at the referee, starting by labelling him as a ‘bottleless git”.
“We spoke about Klein,” Graham said as he watched on, before adding: “You bottleless git Klein! Make the decision Klein!”
Penrith had surprisingly challenged the ruling of a penalty and as the bunker assessed the footage and it became clear that they would rule that there was no penalty try or professional foul, Graham erupted again.
He said: “You bottleless git! You bottleless git Klein! You absolute bottle job!
“Would Ivan Cleary (Penrith Panthers coach) have any issue with that being ten minutes?”
Gordon Tallis, also on comms, reminded Graham of where he was as he said: “We are a chance of being pulled off the air here. You (Graham) are getting real close to swearing.”
It’s unclear what the outcome of Triple M’s investigation into Graham will be but according to news.com.au, the NRL have declined to comment on the matter.
Graham is a club ambassador for the Bulldogs, who would crash out of the play-offs in the 46-26 defeat.
You can see some of the footage of Graham’s outburt, with his ‘bottleless git’ comments cut, in the TikTok video embedded below.
@triplem_nrl “Sir!!!” Jimmy was NOT happy with Ashley Klein! #canterburybankstownbulldogs #penrithpanthers #nrl #fyp #foryou ♬ original sound – Triple M NRL
