Watson’s fuming over cup ban for Devils duo
SALFORD boss Ian Watson has expressed his frustration at the RFL’s disciplinary processes after learning he will be without star players Dan Sarginson and Luke Yates for Saturday’s Challenge Cup semi-final against Warrington Wolves.
Sarginson has been suspended for two matches for a high tackle on Jamie Shaul, while Yates received a one-game ban for dangerous contact on Danny Houghton.
Watson is insistent neither suspension is justified and is unhappy at the timing of the decision.
The bans are scheduled to only come into effect at midnight tonight - after the Super League clash between the two teams, meaning that will not count towards the bans.
That is despite the fact the fixture was initially scheduled for Wednesday evening, but was brought forward for TV coverage.
The Red Devils have asked the RFL to reconsider that issue, but it is the ban levied at Sarginson that has most dismayed Watson.
“I’m a little bit baffled by what the Match Review Panel have seen,” said the Salford coach. “Everyone keeps talking about the defender having a duty of care going onto the attacker.
“Jamie Shaul loses his legs and it’s about half a second where Dan’s apparently got to somehow choose to change his tackle technique and change what he’s committed to do - there’s no way of doing that.
“The ball carrier has got to start having a duty of care for himself. He can’t just dive head first into a tackle and then say ‘I’ve been hit round the head’.
“It just seems like the rules are all saying the duty of care has got to be done by the defender and the attacker can do what they want.”
Watson revealed he took the decision to drop one of his own players last season for instigating the contact in a crusher situation and he believes lawmakers should look at altering the rules for cases where the attacker willfully puts himself into a dangerous situation.
He said: “The onus has got to come on the ball carrier as well. Everyone has got a duty of care for themselves and each other - I don’t want people getting injured.
“I don’t know how many times Jamie Shaul has been knocked out through his career, but it’s a lot and that one at the weekend, there’s nothing Dan Sarginson could have done.
“We’re really big on discipline in the club. Last year, we pulled a player for that reason - he backed into a tackle and put himself in a crusher position.
“He’s going to hurt himself if he’s going to keep doing that and you can’t then blame the defender if you’ve put yourself in that position.” The disciplinary disruption has marred an ‘exciting’ preparation for the club, who could hand debuts to young foundation players Connor Aspey and Luis Roberts, as well as recent arrivals Tom Gilmore and Olly Ashall-Bott.
But despite the youthful make up of the two squads on show, Watson says his side are approaching the match as they would any other fixture.
“We want to win this and then we want to win on Saturday as well,” he said. “We’ve not changed our mentality in terms of how we’re approaching the game.”