Huddersfield Giants boss blunt on Hull KR sin bin amid verdict on match officials “confusion”

Huddersfield Giants head coach Luke Robinson has spoken on the “confusion” of the match officials against Hull KR, as well as the Robins’ sin bin in their 34-0 loss at Craven Park.

The Giants looked like they could have been in line to pull off a shock against the Robins with Huddersfield trailing just 4-0 approaching the hour mark and with every chance of landing the upset.

However, those chances evaporated rapidly as a Hull KR onslaught saw them score 30 unanswered points in the final 20 minutes of the game, including three tries in just six minutes.

One of the more contentious moments happened in the first half when Rovers’ prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was sent to the sin bin for a high shot on Huddersfield’s Matty English, something which led to “confusion” according to Luke Robinson.

JWH caught English high which saw the Huddersfield forward leave the field for a HIA and Robinson explained that there were “wires crossed” over whether the Giants could or could not use their 18th man.

“Self-explanatory” – Huddersfield Giants boss reacts to Hull KR sin bin

On that, Robinson said: “There was a lot of confusion going on down in the dugout but yeah, Matty got clouted around the head, didn’t he? He’s had a few of them in the past so we’re going to be very conscious about doing the right things for him as well as us.

“He caught it straight around the head. I think he’s got stitches on the inside and outside of his lip.”

When asked to clarify the ‘confusion’, he explained: “There was a little bit of confusion from the fourth official whether it’s a sub that gets used or we get a free interchange, whether then we can bring the 18th man onto the bench, there was a lot of that going on. I know the rules so I kept telling him it was wrong but eventually we got there in the end.”

As for the tackle itself, Robinson was relatively blunt and to the point regarding it but made a point that he wasn’t looking to get players “sent off”, whilst also admitting that it was “not the reason we lost the game”.

“It’s one of those, he’s got stitches inside and outside his mouth. That’s it, really. That’s pretty self-explanatory really,” Robinson responded when asked for his opinion on the sin bin.

“I’m not there to get players sin binned and sent off. I don’t want to be one of those coaches. It’s up to the officials how they deem it.”

He also admitted: “The feed that we had wasn’t very good if I’m honest. The TV screen that I was looking at wasn’t a great angle. I don’t think we had the same as Sky.

“They’ve got someone in the fourth official who’s looking at it over and over and over again, so I’m sure they made the right call. Look, that’s not the reason we lost the game.”

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