Sam Tomkins gives verdict on controversial Hull KR sin bin v Wigan Warriors

After Hull KR lost to Wigan Warriors in a game shaped by sin bins, the video referee process in Super League has been called into question with Sky Sports’ Brian Carney and Sam Tomkins leading the way.

Hull KR travelled to face Wigan Warriors last night in a game that looks like it will crown the winner of the League Leaders Shield and it was reigning champions Wigan who came out on top as they won 24-20.

The Robins took an early 10-0 lead before being pegged back to 10-8 after a controversial Joe Burgess sin bin. The winger would then get on the scoresheet to help make it 20-8 before a brilliant Bevan French score cut the lead.

From that restart is where much of the controversy hails with Jai Whitbread being shown a yellow card for his tackle on Tyler Dupree in an incident that was only looked at by the video referee after the Wigan prop stayed down for well over a minute.

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters sounded off about players staying down for penalties as he argued his side only lost on account of going down to 12 players on two occasions, and that’s been attested to by those in the Sky Sports studio.

Speaking post-match, St Helens captain Jodie Cunningham stated: “There were points in that game were Hull KR really dominated and if you take the two yellow cards out of it, that result could be really different. That seems pivotal.”

That was a point that Catalans full-back Sam Tomkins agreed with, as he added: “I think the yellow cards are the biggest factor in it.”

Does Hull KR loss highlight ‘structural problem’ in Super League’s video referee process?

Jodie Cunningham would immediately address exactly what had happened in her view, one that is shared by many others, as she explained: “Nothing happens unless Tyler Dupree stays down, which he does.

“He then doesn’t go off the field. So for me, I agree with Jon in commentary, if he’s going to stay down and get the penalty from it, then he probably should go off the field for a HIA.”

The fact that Dupree did not go off for treatment following such a lengthy delay added credence to the argument that he was ‘milking’ a penalty, whilst that process was then slammed by Sam Tomkins who declared that the actions of the England prop have had a “massive impact on Wigan going to lift the League League of Shield”.

Presenter Brian Carney framed the argument, stating: “I’ll put it to you that the problem is in the way the game is structured at the moment. The video referee is asked to intervene, if the ball plays on then the video referee cannot come into it so if a player stays down it gives the video referee time to check it.”

To that, Sam Tomkins explained how he felt Hull KR had been failed: “I think the problem’s with how it’s coming about. If a player feels contact in the head, which you feel a lot, you stay down, you’ve got a chance (of ‘earning’ a sin bin).

“They’ve proved that tonight. I don’t think Whitbread’s done a terrible amount wrong, he has caught him in the head, correct, but it’s the fact that Dupree can stay down for a minute, and he (Whitbread) gets 10 minutes, yet Dupree stays on the field.

“Now I’m not being critical of Dupree because that’s the rule, we’ve seen how pivotal it is to have 12 men. If you can play against 12 men, you’ve got a massive chance, so it’s a problem with the ruling on it.

“I can’t say to Dupree, ‘Don’t stay down’ because the fact that he did stay down had a massive impact on Wigan going to lift the League League of Shield in two weeks.”

For Carney, the incident represented a bigger issue than just players failing to be sent for a HIA after potentially ‘milking’ a penalty but instead, the fact that the video referee can intervene and show a yellow card for something that was innocuous enough in real time that the referee completely missed it.

He labelled that a “structural problem” in rugby league, concluding: “I’d put up a stronger argument to say that I have a problem with the Jai Whitbread tackle being identified as a yellow card and a sin bin than the players staying down. There’s a structural problem with the way the video referees are intervening in games to identify high shots. It’s got to be solved.”