Lee Radford and Matt Peet (pictured) both voiced concerns over the state of the game following the sin binning of Mahe Fonua in Castleford Tigers’ defeat at Wigan Warriors last Thursday night.
The Tigers were twice reduced to twelve men in their 32-22 defeat, with Mahe Fonua sent to the sinbin in the first half, while Brad Martin was dismissed from the field for a high shot on Wille Isa.
Radford had no problems with the red card but he didn’t understand why Fonua was sent to the sinbin. He received a yellow card for an apparent late hit when it looked marginal at best.
“You don’t have to ask (whether it was a fair sinbinning),” said Radford.
“It’s not the game of Rugby League. It’s not what I was brought up on, not the game that I love.
“I don’t know what it is any more. It’s boxing without being able to throw a punch.
“At the beginning of the year, we had Channel Four, we had Premier Sports on Monday nights. Some high-quality games on Sky, I thought there was a real buzz about the game.
“Something I haven’t seen for a long time. But now all we are talking about is this. We shouldn’t be. We should be rewarding some of the good stuff that is going on. How many times am I getting asked these questions? In typical Rugby League fashion, we shoot ourselves in the foot.”
On the red card for Martin, he added: “I’ll cop that. It’s fantastic, well it’s not but it’s a fantastic decision. I can handle that.”
Wigan Warriors coach Peet admitted he didn’t agree with the sinbinning of Fonua.
“Personally, I didn’t see what it was for,” added Peet.
“Live, I think it was harsh, and when I have seen it back it was harsh.
“Unfortunately it feels like we are talking about this kind of thing every week.”
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