Warrington Wolves boss Sam Burgess slams ’embarrassing’ red card in Leigh Leopards loss

It’s fair to say Warrington Wolves boss Sam Burgess was less than impressed with the decision to show Paul Vaughan a red card on Friday night.

The decision came just 11 minutes into the Wolves’ clash with Leigh Leopards at the Leigh Sports Village after Vaughan was deemed to have hit Owen Trout recklessly high. As such, Warrington were forced to play 69 minutes with just 12 men on the field and they ultimately succumbed to a 16-12 defeat against Adrian Lam’s side.

Warrington’s hopes of winning the League Leaders ‘ Shield are now in tatters and after the game Burgess was left lamenting what he felt was an extremely soft call that decided the contest.

“It was embarrassing,” Burgess said when asked about Vaughan’s sending off. “It has become a theatrical game. Numerous players were telling players to stay down when we were about to play on.

“They sent him for an HIA, which was convenient…

“Is it really a red card? Were there mitigating factors? I believe so. I would have said yellow. It was such a big call because it had such an influence on the result.

“I can’t stress how proud I am of the team. We never stopped trying and we were below average with the ball. I have got a team fighting hard for each other. So, I will fight for them and ask a couple of questions. What are we going to do to sort out this mess? That was a mess and spoiled a good game. Let’s hope people in power get a grip of it. I don’t think it is a great look.”

The result was enough to carry Leigh into the top six with three games to play, with the Leopards leapfrogging Catalans Dragons and St Helens to move up to fifth in the table. Hull KR’s win over Salford Red Devils leaves Warrington Wolves four points off the pace at the top of the division, though, with Burgess’ side rooted in third.