Castleford Tigers boss Danny McGuire fumes over decisions in Wigan Warriors defeat
Castleford coach Danny McGuire didn’t hide his frustration in his post-match press conference after a controversial captain’s challenge went against his side in their 26-20 defeat to Wigan Warriors.
Liam Farrell's converted late try snatched Wigan’s victory moments after Adam Keighran's penalty had levelled the scores at 20-20 against the Tigers, who were crestfallen after producing their best display of the season.
McGuire was left furious with several of referee Tom Grant's decisions and also video referee Aaron Moore after a controversial second-half captain's challenge involving Wigan halfback Harry Smith and Castleford’s Josh Simm, but it was deemed there had not been sufficient contact to award Castleford a penalty.
McGuire said: "Everyone in the whole ground can see it's a penalty. I'm watching something different if it's not.
"I am going to whinge about the referees because we never get anything. Sometimes you get the home advantage, but we don't get anything.
"Some of the decisions tonight were pathetic. Standard of officiating and some of the stuff - it's getting worse.
"Bring back some older guys like (Richard) Silverwood, (Steve) Ganson and (Russell) Smith , people like that. At least they had guts about them - they didn't get everything right, but they had guts.
"They (the RFL) can fine me and I'll pay them back a pound a week. It's just not good enough, consistently not good enough."
Wigan led 12-4 at the break after tries from Jai Field and Keighran had cancelled out Will Tate's early opener for the Tigers, who hit back early in the second period through scores from Deajarn Asi and Sam Wood.
Zach Eckersley's converted try edged Wigan 18-16 ahead, and after the Tigers regained the lead through Tate's second try, the Warriors were not to be denied, with Farrell scoring the match-winning try.
McGuire added: "I'm obviously really disappointed with the result, but really proud of some of the things we did.
"We had some moments and lost some. They had theirs with the last play of the game, and that's why Jai Field gets paid the big bucks, to be able to drag a really good team out of a hole.
"I'm proud of the players, really proud about how they went about things. It's a good sign for us moving forward."