CASTLEFORD TIGERS head coach Craig Lingard has responded to Shaun Wane’s comments that the club can have no complaints over the red card and four-match ban handed to Liam Watts in the Tigers’ 32-4 loss to Wigan last weekend.
Wane was a guest on Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast yesterday where most of the focus was on the disciplinary controversy that has arisen from week one of Super League.
The former Wigan boss, however, does not feel that Castleford had a case for defence, with Wane saying: “No. Not one bit. We had Paul Cullen in here with all of our players and all of our staff for hours going through everything in detail, which I’m assuming everyone did. It was offered to every club.”
Lingard was asked about Shaun Wane’s comments that the Tigers can have no complaints about the red card and ban in his pre-match press conference ahead of Castleford’s fixture against Salford Red Devils on Sunday.
“I’m not against the changes that are coming in, it’s all to protect the players and myself at Castleford and every other head coach and players will have done more work with the tackling technique under stress conditions than they have ever done before.
“It’s not like anyone at Cas or other clubs are avoiding this. We want the sport to be as safe as possible and everyone has their own opinions. We are 100 per cent committed to it, I just think there are areas there for reassessment and reevaluation.
“We have a meeting with Robert Hicks after this press conference to go through some of the issues and Rob is really open with his lines of communication. We want to get a better understanding of the grey areas. Everyone has got an opinion.”
Watts will miss Castleford’s fixtures against Salford, Warrington Wolves, Huddersfield Giants and Catalans Dragons.
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