St Helens coach comments on Super League referee and disciplinary disconnect

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens is the latest Super League coach to comment on the disconnect between match officials and the disciplinary process.

It’s been a key talking point of late after a string of cards shown on field did not receive any punishment when the off-field disciplinary process began.

Four red cards have been shown in Rounds Eight, Nine and Ten but three of those send-offs saw no further action as Sauaso Sue, Ash Handley and Liam Knight escaped further punishment.

Other controversial sin bins have also gone unpunished by the Match Review Panel with one of the most notable being for St Helens winger Lewis Murphy at Magic Weekend.

The winger contested a high ball and saw his knee make head contact with Leeds’ winger Alfie Edgell, who it is important to note did not jump for the ball. Whilst the referee deemed that worthy of a sin bin, the Match Review Panel took no further action and Paul Wellens used that example to point to the clear disconnect between officials and those in charge of the disciplinary process.

St Helens coach calls for refereeing consistency

Asked if Murphy’s challenge going unpunished by the Match Review Panel made it more frustrating  that he was penalised in the first place, Wellens responded: “Well, it does because it’s quite clear to see that the Match Review Panel and referees are not seeing things the same way.

“Obviously, I think those discussions need to take place moving forward so we all get some clarity over what decisions are going to be made.”

Wellens pointed to the recent Challenge Cup games in which Owen Trout’s head contact with Josh Thewlis was placed on report instead of immediately punished, questioning why the same could not be done in normal Super League games.

He said: “I watched Challenge Cup games on the weekend where things surrounding head contact got put on report. And when I watched that I go, well why couldn’t Lewis Murphy have been put on report?

“I don’t expect referees to get every decision right, but the application has to be consistent for both teams.”

Wellens also confirmed that he’d had no further contact with the RFL’s Head of Referees, Phil Bentham, since that game but noted a “number of bits of dialogue previous to that game around some things that were a huge frustration of ours”, confirming Bentham to be “very forthcoming” in those discussions.

What Paul Wellens said about Steve McNamara’s penalty complaints

Another Super League head coach who has recently pointed out some refereeing grievances is Steve McNamara with the Catalans Dragons’ head coach bemoaning the fact his side only received one penalty against Hull KR in their Challenge Cup semi-final defeat.

When asked about those comments, Wellens said: “I suppose what I will say is, probably like Steve and like many other coaches, we have dialogue with the referees on quite a regular basis around a number of instances within any particular game.

“There’s obviously got to be an understanding from us as coaches that referees, like ourselves and like players, are not going to get every decision absolutely correct. However, I think what we all strive for and what we all get frustrated with at times is when there’s a lack of consistency in the way rules are applied from one game to the next or from one team to the next.”

Wellens added: “I can sympathise with Steve on that note because, like him, I feel that we’ve been on the wrong end of a few decisions recently. But that being said, like I’ve already mentioned, we can’t expect the referees to be perfect.”

St Helens will take on Catalans tonight with both sides looking to get back to winning ways and solidify their play-off credentials.

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Paul Wellens has named his 21-man St.Helens squad that will take on @DragonsOfficiel on Thursday night in @SuperLeague action

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