NRL appoints grand final referees as Klein and 2025 incumbent miss out

The all-important officiating and bunker positions have been decided for the 2026 decider.

Adam Gee has been appointed to referee his second NRL grand final with Chris Butler to work as the bunker official in Sunday’s Roosters-Knights decider.

, in which he referred contentious tries to Jamayne Isaako and Rob Toia to the bunker, which were subsequently awarded by video official Ashley Klein, who deemed to not have sufficient evidence to overturn the on-field decision. Incumbent 2025 grand final referee Grant Atkins was overlooked after he did not officiate in either preliminary final, with veteran whistleblower Gerard Sutton overseeing Newcastle’s nail-biting 22-14 defeat of the Panthers on Sunday.

Klein was demoted to bunker duties last weekend afterKlein had overseen all three Origin matches this year. He will be in the bunker for the first game on grand final day – the annual State championship between the NSW Cup and QLD Cup premiers – when Penrith take on the Dolphins, which will be overseen by Kieren Irons. Belinda Sharpe will referee the Roosters-Broncos NRLW final on Sunday afternoon, with Wyatt Raymond acting as bunker review official.

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