Castleford Tigers coach seemingly furious with red card decision

In a shocking moment in Round One of the Betfred Super League, Castleford Tigers star Liam Watts was sent off as Super League Champions Wigan Warriors battled in the rain at the Jungle which was more like a swamp.

There has been some moments when the resolve of the referee and video referee were questioned in light of the new rules in 2024.

First Kaide Ellis escaped a card when he made contact with the head of an opponent because his back was bent.

Then on top of that, Harry Smith was sin binned for a tackle on Luke Hooley where he accidentally tipped him onto his head.

But then the big moment as Liam Watts was sent off for direct contact with the head as he and Joe Westerman went to make a tackle on Tyler Dupree who was ducking down and caught contact with Watts’ shoulder.

Live on BBC, the camera caught the reaction of Castleford Tigers Head Coach Craig Lingard. You don’t have to be a master lip reader to be able to tell what Lingard.

He appeared to say: “F*ck off. That’s f*cking ridiculous.” Danny McGuire seemed to say “how?” At the very least both were shaking their heads.

After this, tries for Patrick Mago and Bevan French gave Wigan the 16-4 halftime lead.

Castleford Tigers follows the trend

In the opening game between Hull FC and Hull KR, Herman Ese’ese was the first player to receive a sin bin penalty for a high shot, in accordance with the new rules.

Following this, Franklin Pele was sent off for a swinging arm, and Ligi Sao was also sent off, while Matt Parcell was sin binned.

In the match at Headingley, Ryan Brierley received a sin bin penalty for a high tackle on his friend Brodie Croft. Similarly, in the game between Leigh Leopards and Huddersfield Giants, Ricky Leutele was sin binned for a late hit, and John Asiata was also shown a yellow card.

After the dismissal of Momirovski, Amir Bourouh of Salford became the ninth player to be carded.
Two additional cards were shown at the game at the Jungle.