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The hotly anticipated first part of the final season of Netflix's Stranger Things has already proved a smash hit with viewers, and now it's also won over NRL fans for a very surprising reason.
Rugby league supporters have been shocked to learn a character in the final season of the show shares her name with veteran referee Ashley Klein – with one scene in particular driving footy tragics wild on social media.
In the final episode of volume one of season five, Derek Turnbow (Jake Connelly) is attempting to help a number of children escape a military base in an effort to save them from being found by the show's number one villain, Vecna (Jamie Campbell-Bower).
As he is doing so, another child named Ashley catches Derek, along with main characters Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) and Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), in the act of trying to break into the base.
Ashley then is seen revealing the information to military personnel, effectively ruining Derek and his friends' chances of helping the children escape.
As chaos ensues, Derek is heard screaming, 'Ashley Klein is a snitch!' before slamming a door.
Derek Turnbow, played by Jake Connelly (pictured) has provided one of the most talked about moments of Stranger Things Season Five – if you're an NRL fan
The character (pictured left) screams, 'Ashley Klein is a snitch!' in episode four of season five
NRL fans are having a field day with the unwitting reference to referee Ashley Klein (pictured)
The cheeky 'reference' to Klein, who's been in charge of more than 400 NRL games, has been picked up quickly by NRL fans.
Popular social media creator Winston Neville has posted the moment Derek mentioned the name, with the caption 'NRL mentioned in Stranger Things'.
Users then had a field day with the unexpected moment on TikTok.
'I was watching this and I reminded it to make sure I heard it properly and when I did I started cracking up laughing,' one commenter said.
'As soon as that was mentioned i thought the same thing ahaha,' another added.
'Thank god I wasn’t the only one that noticed this,' another wrote.
It's not the first time Aussie rugby league has been mentioned in an unexpected way on the world stage.
Korean pop star Haewon left fans scratching their heads when she wore a Queensland State of Origin jersey during a concert back in 2022.
Millie Bobby Brown plays Eleven (pictured), a girl with incredible psychic powers
Pictured: A demogorgon monster fights the military in the fifth season of the smash-hit show
The Sydney Roosters club has also been immortalised in Hollywood, with former Sydney resident and filmmaker Josh Brandon sneaking references to star players into some of his films and TV shows.
He named a character from the film Bad Tenant after club owner Nick Politis, made sure former halfback Mitchell Pearce got a mention in the Fox drama Houdini & Doyle, and worked club great Boyd Cordner into the SyFy Network's Haven show.
Australian rugby league's famed Kangaroos representative jersey made a baffling appearance in the 1985 movie The Sure Thing as it was worn by the main character, played by John Cusack.
Part two of the final season of Stranger Things will hit Netflix on Christmas Day.
