England head coach Shaun Wane has said that Liam Watts can have no complaints about his red card and four-game suspension stating that such a tackle “cannot happen”.
Watts was sent off for his high shot that has been interpreted as a shoulder charge in Castleford Tigers opening game against Shaun Wane’s old side Wigan Warriors, and he was subsequently banned for four games.
Wane even still works with the club and after assessing how Matt Peet’s side got on in round one he was asked about the fact there’s been much controversy surrounding Watts’ send-0ff and subsequent ban.
Jenna Brooks, host of Sky Sports’ Rugby League Verdict, told Wane that Castleford coach Craig Lingard had asked the question of ‘what else Watts should have done’, promoting Brooks to ask if Wane understood Lingard’s position.
Wane offered up a staunch and blunt reply: “No, not one bit”, before explaining the huge lengths the RFL have gone to in order to inform clubs on the new laws.
He continued: “We had Paul Cullen in here with all our players and all our staff going through every match in detail, which I’m assuming every club did as it was offered to every club.
“We know that you can’t contact player’s heads with your shoulder without wrapping your arms.
“I know Liam Watts and whether I agree with it or not, that is a rule and we know that it just cannot happen in our game.
“It happened and that’s the way they’ve dealt with it so I don’t understand what Craig means to be honest.”
Shaun Wane touts Wigan Warriors for World Club Challenge success
It wasn’t just Liam Watts that Shaun Wane was talking about with the England boss of course discussing how he thought Wigan Warriors would fare in the World Club Challenge.
Wigan have sold out the DW Stadium for the game on Saturday night which Serious About Rugby League understand will now be contested under the same international rules that were in place when England faced Tonga in the autumn.
As such there will hopefully be no controversy over discipline and instead just be an exceptional game between two elite sides.
Wane thinks that Matt Peet’s men have it in them to cause the upset and beat the NRL champions Penrith Panthers.
On Peet, Wane said: “He’s a man that I rate very highly as a person and he’s an even better coach who is doing some great things.
“If he can get this done on Saturday, I know the feeling of when you win a World Club Challenge for this town and your life changes. I don’t take that lightly and I really hope Matty can get that win on Saturday.”
