Betfred Round 18 was a big weekend of Super League with a vital win for Leeds Rhinos in the play-off race which could be said of Hull FC as well as they beat their bitter rivals Hull KR meanwhile the relegation battle was blown wide open when Wigan Warriors were stunned by Wakefield Trinity which heaps the pressure on Castleford Tigers.
The other week it looked like Castleford had sealed their Super League status when they opened up a six point lead on Wakefield who at that stage had won one of 17 fixtures in 2023.
The Tigers had beaten Daryl Powell’s Warrington Wolves that week as Wakefield lost to Hull KR but Wakefield followed that up with back to back wins over play-off contenders to shorten the gap.
Thus, there is a lot of frustration at the Jungle including from coach Andy Last.
After the defeat to Leigh Leopards on Friday he was left questioning some key decisions:
“I felt the first one was a dubious one and could have been called forward and the first score in any game is significant,” he said on BBC Radio Leeds.
“There were a couple of line balls and they could argue we got away with some.”
Meanwhile there were other calls that went against them baffling Last especially when Cain Robb was penalised for not putting his head in the scrum:
“I think it was 22-16 and Gareth O’Brien drops the ball and there was some hesitation about whether there was a knock on which was a strange call.
“Then the referee pulls Cain Robb for not putting his head in the back of a scrum.
“That’s one of them calls that you probably won’t see again this year and it had a big momentum shift on the outcome of the game.”
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