“A bit of a joke” – St Helens boss questions ‘on report’ ruling after controversial moment in defeat to Wigan Warriors

Following their agonising defeat to Wigan Warriors, St Helens boss Paul Rowley has labelled the ‘on report’ rule as a “joke” after a high shot on Daryl Clark went unpunished.

Saints lost 16-14 in the final game of Magic Weekend, and had the chance to level the game in the final play, but a failed penalty goal from Jackson Hastings gave Wigan the two points.

The contest was everything a Wigan-Saints derby should be, with both sides going all out in order to win, not just the two points, but bragging rights as well.

As such, the game was high on ferocity, with there being plenty of incidents for the Match Review Panel to consider as a result.

One of those incidents will be the high shot on Saints hooker Daryl Clark by Wigan’s Lukas Mason.

The moment took place close to the Wigan line, and was put on report by on-field official Chris Kendall. However, there was no penalty awarded for Saints, and instead it was play on in the tackle count.

A penalty there would have given Saints the chance to extend their lead to four points, but instead they went down by four, with Wigan scoring on the very next set.

Whilst the Red Vee should have been much better defensively, you have to feel that Rowley has a point.

The Saints boss was asked whether losing a game like that is more difficult than losing by a huge margin, to which he replied: “Not really, because sometimes it’s about the performance and the intent.

“I thought we were there. If we look at a lot of the markers, we were there.

“They owned a couple of moments. We won four captain’s challenges, which you’ve got to ask a question there. There’s something been put on report where we’d have taken the two.

“It’s been a six-point swing because they’ve gone down the other end and scored. So I’m really disappointed about that.

“When we’ve got a big screen, why do you put things on report? But I don’t want that to take away from both teams’ performances. It was a good game.”

Commenting on the officiating further, Rowley added: “The on report these days is a bit of a joke because you’ve got a big screen, you’ve got video review. So that is a report in itself. It’s a strange thing.

“Clearly a contact to the head of Daryl Clark. That’s two points. But yeah, we should be defending it as well.

“We’ll look at things we did good and things we did bad. But overall, disappointed with the result, but really proud of the players’ efforts.”

Paul Rowley clarifies substitution confusion after St Helens end game with 12 men

Due to the amount of injuries picked up by Saints in that game, a rare rule had to be enforced, and it couldn’t have come at a more crucial time for the Red Vee.

With the side having no fit substitutes due to four failed HIA’s, it meant that one player needed to leave the field in order to be there as a replacement option.

Young hooker Tom Humpreys was the unlucky player to be culled, and Rowley has tried to explain what went on in a chaotic final few minutes.

“It was an unexpected one,” he said. It was one that [Alex Walmsley] got earlier in the game. There were a lot of head injuries in the game, so sometimes it was hard to keep count of who’s passing, who’s not passing. But yeah, it caught us out with two minutes to go.”

Reflecting on the game as a whole, the boss said: “It was [brutal]. Putting on Wigan-Saints last proved to be the right thing, because I think we finished the show in good style. I thought both teams, credit to both teams. They battled hard.

“It was a violent encounter, and one that I’m sure everyone enjoyed. But unfortunately for us, we didn’t get the result we wanted.”