Catalans Dragons defeated Hull FC 24-16 yesterday in a game that saw each side reduced to 12 men and Dragons head coach Steve McNamara has given his verdict on the “crazy game”.
Victory for Les Dracs has pushed them up the Super League table and into fourth, four points clear of seventh-placed Leeds Rhinos meaning Catalans look to be sitting pretty to ensure a playoff spot with just eight games of the season to go.
Whilst they were favourites to beat Hull FC, they were facing a much-improved Black and Whites side and it looked like a game that could potentially get away from Catalans when forward Tariq Sims was sent off after just nine minutes.
The forward landed a big shot on Hull FC recruit Ed Chamberlain, however, that went unpunished by Liam Rush but instead it was Sims’ attempt to move the centre with strict rules around touching or moving a potentially injured player in case it causes further injury.
Hull KR captain Shaun Kenny-Dowall copped a four-game ban last season for doing so meaning the disciplinary could well look at Sims’ case too. Steve McNamara offered his thoughts on the send off when speaking post-match to Sky Sports.
Asked if he had any complaints, McNamara stated: “No, I’m not… I think it was maybe for picking up the player after he was injured, or touching the player after he was injured, I think. I didn’t think the actual tackle was a red card, so I presume it’s that, but I don’t have any more information, so we’ll see.”
QUIZ: Can you name these 10 former Super League head coaches? (extra difficult)
Red cards threw the game “upside down” against Hull FC claims McNamara
Credit: Imago Images
The red card for Sims was just the first of the match with Hull FC forward Ligi Sao being shown one just minutes later for a high shot making for a 12 v 12 game for the final 65 minutes.
Those final 65 minutes were labelled “crazy” by McNamara who summed up another wild weekend in Super League, stating: “Crazy game, two red cards really early in the first half as well, injuries, concussions, there’s a lot.”
He also argued that his team should have put on far more points given how often they tested the Hull FC goalline, slamming his team’s bluntness in attack, explaining: “I just thought we made it really difficult for ourselves, I thought we were in complete charge of the game on numerous occasions, but our ability to sustain the pressure and turn that pressure into points was alarming for us in that game. We should have got a few more points than that.”
Despite that, he offered credit to Hull FC but noted a significant injury for his own side with Hull KR-bound Micky McIlorum leaving the field early on. Ultimately though, he felt the red cards changed the game.
“We did but I thought the game was thrown upside down with the two red cards. I think it threw both sides out. I thought we started really well. I thought we were looking great. I thought we were in for a really big performance.
“We lost Micky after five minutes and then we got the red card five minutes after that. We’ve had to dig deep and find a way to win but I just thought if we’d have showed a bit more patience and a bit more hold on to the ball we would have posted more points.
“They’re in good form, they beat Wigan last week and they were coming here obviously with the points to prove but yeah we got the win.”
