“I think…” – Sky pundit has shock say on controversial Leeds Rhinos decision

In the rain, the much beloved Rivals Round kick started as Castleford Tigers hosted their big city neighbours Leeds Rhinos in a Jungle that seemed more like a swamp.

A former Grand Final, the last tome these two met on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday was back in 2016 when the Tigers defeated the then reigning Champions. They did meet on Easter Monday in 2022 which was the last traditional Easter weekend when teams played twice over a short period. That day the Tigers won. In fact, you have to go back to 2021 to find a last win at the Jungle for the Rhinos back in 2021 when Luke Gale was still running the show.

The Tigers were by far the better starters in the game but when they had the chance to take the lead early on, Danny Richardson struck the post with a penalty shot from 40 metres out.

A Liam Watts intercept led to a nearly moment for Cas as Leeds scrambled to deny Liam Horne a try.

A myriad of errors exacerbated by repeat goal line drop outs meant Leeds kept having to defend their line. They stood up to the task and had an attempt of their own when a wide to west like play nearly saw Rhyse Martin capitalise but Cas defended well meaning the halftime score was 0-0.

Despite all the pressure they faced in the first half, Leeds struck first after a kick to the corner from Brodie Croft led to a dubious grounding for his first Leeds try from Paul Momirovski. Fove minutes later Lachie Miller came close to scoring his first Leeds try but Sam Wood denied him.

The Tigers weren’t able to hold on however when Leeds next attacked. Brodie Croft fed James McDonnell inside with the second-rower feeding Paul Momirovski for his second try of the game to make it 12-0. Shortly after, Leeds extended their lead to 14-0 with a Rhyse Martin penalty before Lachie Miller scored his first Leeds try picking up the ball from a Matt Frawley kick that was patted back by Ash Handley.

Josh Simm did hit back for Castleford after a wicked bounce. But Leeds had the last say as Lachie Miller backed up a Brodie Croft break.

Leeds Rhinos benefit from dubious grounding

Castleford Tigers fans may feel somewhat aggrieved with the result especially as the try that got the ball rolling had more than an element of doubt to it.

There seemed to be no conclusive angle that should Leeds Rhinos star Paul Momirovski had grounded the ball to score.

But also no evidence to show that he had failed to ground the ball leaving the video referee in between a rock and a hard place.

Ultimately, they had to go with the on field decision explaining on Sky Sports: “His hand and fingers stay on the ball.”

Sky Sports pundit Jon Wells endorsed the opinion perhaps to the surprise of some: “It went up as a try and I think that was important for the video referee considerations. The referee said that there was controlled downward pressure. Whether it’s a finger or a thumb it doesn’t matter, it’s all worth the same.”