Castleford coach Daryl Powell has hit back at Shaun Wane’s claims that it is ‘crazy’ Friday’s game with Wigan is going ahead.
Wane is unhappy that the Warriors will travel to West Yorkshire next Friday without trio Sean O’Loughlin, George Williams and John Bateman – who will all be in Denver preparing for England’s Test with New Zealand.
They did not, however, lose Tommy Leuluai to Kiwis duty too which would have been a further blow – while Castleford have no call-ups from either side.
Wane said: “Cas have got nobody picked, which to me is crazy from an RFL point of view. They knew what they were doing. “We asked them to consider it, but they have just put us at a major disadvantage.”
Powell, however, has insisted that he can’t quite work out Wane’s problem – saying everyone knew the score when their game was initially rearranged, having originally been postponed due to the hazardous weather earlier this year.
“I wish we had three in the team,” he said when asked by League Express.
“It is a reward for having outstanding players so I don’t know what the problem is with that.
“I think when the game was talked about and put into place, Galey [Luke Gale] was fit and Mike McMeeken was in the elite squad, Greg Eden wasn’t far off and Paul McShane was playing well.
“It is what it is, that’s always been the case with international football.
“I don’t see a real problem with it. Obviously it’s tough for them, but the reward for having international players is that you’ve got a really good squad.”
