Simon Woolford has hit back at comments made by Salford counterpart Ian Watson – and accused him of trying to get one of his players suspended following Friday’s controversial game.
The Salford chief was left frustrated with the decision not to punish Huddersfield fullback Darnell McIntosh for an incident that left Red Devils halfback Kevin Brown needing treatment.
McIntosh collided with Brown in the build-up to Salford’s second try but was not punished, and went on to secure the win for the Giants by denying Ken Sio a try with the last play of the game.
That compounded Watson’s grievances, who said: “I think McIntosh has something to answer for when he’s whacked Kev off the ball when we’ve scored.
“I’m not being funny but someone got three games didn’t they from Hull for whiplash.
“Everyone is saying that’s a big thing now and you can’t go in the back and whack them, well he’s miles late when he hits Kev so maybe he shouldn’t have been on the field at that time.”
But that has angered Woolford, who believes Brown feigned injury in order to try and get his young star in trouble.
“I think Watto is trying to deflect from the headbutt,” he said.
“The incident he’s talking about with Brown is nothing more than a push in the back. He milks it, is able to carry on playing then is fit enough to form a tackle later in the game in which he headbutts one of our players. It comes across as an attempt to influence the Match Review Panel.
“At the end of the day it was Brown’s ill-discipline that cost Salford big time, not Darnell giving him a push in the back. I think we all know the league is cracking down on playmakers copping unnecessary “coward shots” after passing the ball, but the Darnell incident Watto referred to certainly doesn’t fall into that category.”
The Match Review Panel is set to investigate both incidents and will publish their decision on Monday.
