Ian Watson accuses referee of “ruining the game” in Salford’s defeat to Leeds

Drew Darbyshire 22 Feb 2020 7:04 PM

Salford coach Ian Watson accused referee Marcus Griffiths of “ruining the game” after they lost to Leeds.

The Red Devils were leading 8-0 but the Rhinos performed an impressive comeback to complete a 22-8 victory at the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Watson accused referee Marcus Griffiths of “washing his hands of Salford” because the home fans got on his back in the match.

He said: “There are things that happened in that second half that are way beyond our control.

“Ten times out of 10 if that tackle on Evalds was on Sky, that’s a penalty. I’d like Ganson to explain that to me and contact us – he needs to come back to me.

“In this game, things are getting tighter and tighter – we’re talking about people’s livelihoods. People who are in charge of the games have got to be doing it the right way and I felt the game was ruined.

“As soon as the crowd went berserk at the referee, he just washed his hands of Salford and refereed the game in a totally different manner.

“That’s what I’m not happy about. People ask for your opinion – you should be able to give your opinion. Ganson needs to get in touch with me and tell me why he’s putting people in charge of a game who can’t control the game.

“I contacted him (Ganson) a few times last year and he never got back to me. We’re not Wigan or St Helens so we’re not important enough to deal with.”