SAM BURGESS complained that “you’re not allowed to tell the truth” after a disputed sin bin in Warrington Wolves’ 24-10 Challenge Cup quarter-final victory over Leigh Leopards.
Criticism of match officials was clamped down upon last season by the RFL with Burgess among several Super League head coaches to receive a fine for comments made in the media.
As such, he was mindful not to challenge the decision to send Warrington winger Josh Thewlis to the sin bin in the 56th minute for knocking the ball away at a Leigh restart.
Burgess said: “You’re not allowed to tell the truth. You have to say what they want you to say, otherwise you land yourself in trouble.
“Let’s just say it didn’t hurt us too much. In fact when we went down to twelve we became ourselves a bit more.
“We remembered who we are as a team in that period, so maybe I’m grateful for the yellow card.”
Warrington quickly fell 10-6 behind but scored a converted Toby King try before Thewlis’ return and then sealed victory with a Ben Currie double.
“The game could have gone either way so I’m grateful we had the resolve and determination to get through it,” added Burgess.
“Whether or not the sin bin was justified, we handled it really well. Players got into action pretty quickly and regrouped.
“We won the ten-minute period 6-4, so I was happy with that.
“It was a great contest, a real tough, gritty Cup tie. We must respect Leigh and what they brought.
“They unsettled us early and it’s the first time we’ve been that way, so it was good to see we had the fightback to come out of it.”
Warrington lost returning forward Luke Yates after just eight minutes and Burgess said: “He had an issue with his neck or shoulder so we’ll assess that over the next few days.”
Cai Taylor-Wray, another coming back from injury, was commended for battling through the game with a hand problem.