Castleford Tigers coach Danny McGuire has described the controversial call that went against his side in Saturday evening’s defeat to Wigan as ‘bewildering’ – before insisting the standard of officiating in Super League is getting worse.
McGuire’s side fought courageously against the defending champions on Saturday but ultimately fell to a 26-20 defeat.
However, the game swung on a huge moment when, with the Tigers leading 16-12 in the final quarter, Wigan were given a turnover despite Harry Smith appearing to pull back Josh Simm in what many felt should have been a penalty to the Tigers.
Instead, Wigan got possession and scored on the following set through Zach Eckersley and McGuire called the moment ‘bewildering’.
He said: “Everyone in the ground can see it’s a penalty. I can’t see why they can’t see that. What are they looking for? Are they looking for foul play? I don’t get the officiating. I don’t get the captain’s challenge. It’s bewildering.”
But the Tigers coach went one step further and took a swipe at the overall levels of refereeing in Super League.
He said: “The standard of officiating is getting worse. You feel for the players because they’re trying their nuts off and they get calls like that. How can I defend that? It’s hard because when you’re scrapping and fighting, it hurts even more. We’ll take it on the chin and get back on the horse.
When asked for his thoughts on the game, McGuire continued: “I thought we were the better team and we deserved to win. We got some really tough calls.
“I don’t want to go too deep into that but my players worked tirelessly and did themselves proud. Wigan have got good players who can drag them out of trouble. I’m really proud of the players, they committed to each other and did some really good things.
“We’ve had a bit of adversity. Tom Amone has been on his illness bed all week and he came in and put a shift in. There are some things that don’t go to plan. All I ask is the players commit and play with passion and pride and they did that.”
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