Australian-born Englishman Ashley Klein has been appointed to referee Saturday night's rugby league World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand in Brisbane.

Klein controlled this year's Super League grand final and has also refereed Challenge Cup and Tri Nations deciders.

Australian Steve Chiddy and England's James Child will act as touch judges with England's Steve Ganson the video referee for the match at Suncorp Stadium.

"The policy throughout the tournament has been to appoint on the basis of merit in the first instance but to opt for neutral referees where there were two candidates of similar standing," said Michael Stone, the chairman of the World Cup Referees Appointments Board.

"Ashley has been one of the form referees of a tournament that has brought together officials from a number of countries."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP