Two Super League coaches face punishment after recent comments

After Sunday’s games between Leeds Rhinos and Leigh Leopards, Hull FC and Wakefield Trinity and Salford Red Devils there was one major talking point that emerged which centred around Paul Rowley.

Rowley labelled referee Jack Smith “a disgrace” after his performance and said it was a “good game spoiled.”

Opposite number Paul Wellens knows all about making big and bold statements to the media having done so after the club’s Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Leigh Leopards.

In the game John Asiata injured a number of St Helens players with a tackle technique that wasn’t punished.

Wellens accused the RFL of failing to protect players after the game.

He and Rowley have now been referred to the sport’s compliance board for the comments made according to BBC Sport.

Here is what Rowley said on Salford Red Devils TV:

“It’s so hard. If we’d have won the game, I’d come in and say probably exactly the same thing. I thought the officials were a disgrace. I think Jack, I’ve watched him on telly, he’s been a disgrace a few times this year, one for us at Warrington at home. So three games in a row now we’ve been absolutely let down.

“So clearly Kendall and Liam Moore are the best two refs who get all the cup finals, we don’t get them too much so we must be deemed poor quality games.

“It’s kind of gloves off, I’m usually quite measured and take my time I don’t like to criticise because we’ve lost obviously, but again, I’d have said the same thing in victory.

“Games are very much decided by officials quite often and the obvious response to that will be, ‘they don’t miss a tackle’, ‘they don’t do a forward pass’, and no they don’t, but they don’t get batted 25 times a game either so a lot of it is just visual.

“Then when you’ve got a bright pink boot four foot in front of you on a touchline, then you would hope that somebody competent would make the right decision. As a result of that the sequence continues and we get a man in the bin and then there’s a try scored from a knock on.

“Usually in the last two games we’ve been on the wrong side of things and I never tread that path with the players. I always worry about what we can do and what we can do better but I’m finding it very, very hard to go in there and hit the players with a stick because I think they did everything we asked of them.

“I thought we were physically good, I thought the game was decided by the officiating. I can’t be any clearer than that. I’m happy to put it out there and I think it’s factual. Well I know it’s factual and so I don’t think I can be criticised for saying it as it is.”