Daryl Powell has slammed England’s cancelled training camp in Dubai, calling the process “embarrassing”.
Three Castleford players, Luke Gale, Zak Hardaker and Michael Shenton, were due to travel with the England squad for the two-week trip before it was cancelled.
Although Powell confirmed that he was against the plans in the first place, he believes the manner in which it was cancelled has embarrassed the sport.
“I disagreed with it in the first place,” said Powell.
“We would have lost three key players in Gale, Hardaker and Shenton, so we would have probably been the hardest hit out of any of them.
“But having had it in place and the players really looking forward to it, I think it is embarrassing that it has been cancelled. It’s embarrassing for the sport and I don’t think it should have happened. It should have been agreed by everybody, coaches included.
“One of my biggest disappointments out of it was the lack of communication with the coaches, and I told Wayne Bennett that when I spoke to him. I think that’s key.”
Powell is the third coach to publically criticise the plans, following Saints’ Keiron Cunningham and Hull FC chief Lee Radford protests against it previously.