ENGLAND and former Wigan Warriors head coach Shaun Wane has dismissed Castleford Tigers and Liam Watts’ argument that he ‘couldn’t do anything else’ in the aftermath of a tackle that has left the latter with a four-match ban.
Watts was charged with a Grade E Head Contact after connecting with Wigan forward Tyler Dupree in Castleford’s 32-4 loss on Saturday night.
With Watts also receiving a red card on the field from referee Tom Grant, an overwhelming number of Tigers and rugby league fans felt that the prop had been hard done by.
Wane was asked if he understood Craig Lingard’s position about Watts being unable to do anything else, with the England boss saying: “No, not one bit.
“We had Paul Cullen in here with all our players and all our staff going through every match in detail, which I’m assuming every club did as it was offered to every club.
“We know that you can’t contact player’s heads with your shoulder without wrapping your arm.
“I know Liam Watts and whether I agree with it or not, that is a rule and we know that it just cannot happen in our game.
“It happened and that’s the way they’ve dealt with it so I don’t understand what Craig means to be honest.”
Watts will miss Castleford’s next four games whilst Charbel Tasipale will be available for the Tigers’ next fixture at Salford Red Devils on Sunday after having his ban downgraded from Grade C to Grade B Head Contact.
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