Ryan Brierley accuses Super League officials of “inconsistency”

During Round One of the Betfred Super League, Castleford Tigers player, Liam Watts, was sent off in a shocking moment, as the Super League Champions, Wigan Warriors, battled in the rain at the Jungle stadium, which had turned into a swamp.

There have been moments when the decisions of the referee and video referee have been questioned due to new rules implemented in 2024. For instance, Kaide Ellis made contact with the head of an opponent, but he escaped a card because the opponent’s back was bent. Later, Harry Smith was sin-binned for accidentally tipping Luke Hooley onto his head during a tackle.

However, the biggest moment of the match came when Liam Watts was sent off for direct contact with the head. He and Joe Westerman were attempting to make a tackle on Tyler Dupree, who was ducking down, and Watts made contact with Dupree’s shoulder. The incident was captured live on BBC, and the camera caught the reaction of Castleford Tigers Head Coach, Craig Lingard. Although he didn’t explicitly say it, he appeared to be saying, “That’s ridiculous. F*ck off.” Danny McGuire also seemed perplexed and asked, “How?”

After this incident, Wigan scored tries through Patrick Mago and Bevan French, giving them a halftime lead of 16-4 and went on to win 32-4.

Many on social media slammed the decision including current Salford Red Devils star Ryan Brierley. He said on X: “I don’t get how that’s any different from the one on Hooley at the start that doesn’t even get a yellow. The rules aren’t the problem, the consistency is.”

Castleford Tigers follows Super League trend

In the opening game between Hull FC and Hull KR, Herman Ese’ese received the first sin bin penalty for a high shot, as per the new rules. Franklin Pele was sent off for a swinging arm, while Ligi Sao was also dismissed, and Matt Parcell was sin binned.

In the match at Headingley, Ryan Brierley got 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 receive a card. Two additional cards were shown during the game at the Jungle.