ST HELENS head coach Paul Wellens has admitted he is ‘frustrated’ with refereeing consistency following the ban handed to winger Tommy Makinson.
Makinson was handed a Grade D Head Contact charge following Saints’ 42-6 loss to Hull KR last weekend and was subsequently slapped with a three-match suspension.
The Merseyside club went to an Operational Rules Tribunal last night and was successful in reducing the three-match ban to two.
But, Wellens has admitted that he is frustrated with the refereeing consistency during games.
“It’s a frustrating one, we can’t deny that Tommy makes contact with Tyrone’s head but Tyrone gets up and the incident was reviewed,” Wellens said.
“We don’t do that all the time so when can we stop and start the game? Tyrone May was going to play the ball but was stopped.
“If we are going to stop incidents then we have to be consistent with it. We didn’t argue against the charge, but the application and consistency of the rules needs to be better.
“We didn’t challenge the grading based on Tommy’s last game, we challenged due to the inaccuracy of what he was charged with.
“We were confident he would get it downgraded.”
Wellens does, however, have concerns over Alex Walmsley after the hulking prop slipped whilst playing with his kids in the garden.
But, James Bell will miss out.
“Alex slipped in the garden playing with his kids last week which is symptomatic of where we are at. He has injured his hip flexor.
“He is improving through and is in contention to play this weekend.
“James Bell is how long is a piece of strong. We are waiting for the strength to return in his calf.”
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