Ian Watson frustrated with refereeing decisions in Salford’s defeat to Huddersfield

Drew Darbyshire 15 Feb 2020 12:14 AM

Salford coach Ian Watson insists Kevin Brown shouldn’t have been sin-binned in their loss to Huddersfield.

The Red Devils fell short to a 12-10 defeat against the Giants at the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday night.

Salford half-back Brown was sin-binned for a headbutt on Jordan Turner when the game was level with five minutes to go, and Aidan Sezer added a penalty goal to secure the spoils for Huddersfield.

Watson said: “Kev had his eyes on the floor and he was losing contact as he went to get his head in tight and he caught Jordan Turner flush.

“The match review panel will look at that but Kev is not a dirty player who goes in head first. Someone said it was a headbutt but if it was then it would have been a dumb play by Kev.

“From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t look great but his eyes aren’t fixed on Turner but on the back of that, Wardle has come flying in and retaliated. We had a player sent off for doing that last year and someone said you can’t run in and cause a melee but nothing happened to him.”

Watson also believes that Darnell McIntosh should have been carded for striking Brown off the ball just moments before Salford scored one of their tries.

He added: “I think McIntosh has got something to answer for when he whacked Kev off the ball when we scored.

“I’m not being funny but Chris Satae from Hull was banned for three games (two games after appeal) for whiplash.

“Everyone is saying that whiplash is a big thing now and that you are not allowed to go in the back and whack them – but McIntosh was miles off when he hit Kev late so maybe he shouldn’t have been on the field at that time.

“If the cameras weren’t here certain decisions wouldn’t have been made. It is about fine margins and maybe having cameras at every game is the right way to go.”