Friday 22 April 2016 10:54, UK
Huddersfield coach Paul Anderson accused referee Joe Cobb of "succumbing to pressure" after his side went down 26-19 to Wigan at the DW Stadium.
Anderson claimed Cobb changed the way he refereed the game after being approached by Wigan's acting captain John Bateman at half-time about the ruck speed.
The Giants led 12-6 at half-time and were 18-12 in front when full-back Ryan Brierley completed a hat-trick of tries on the hour, but they were twice reduced to 12 men after Nathan Mason and Aaron Murphy were sin-binned in the second half and they conceded a last-minute try to Dan Sarginson.
I know what will happen, I'll get a fine and they'll say every decision was right. I think it's a load of rubbish if I'm being honest.
"It's disgraceful," Anderson said of Cobb's second-half decisions. "I'm got a mixture of anger and pride, all the range of emotions you can imagine.
"I'd like an explanation of what changed the official's mind at half-time to want to referee the game differently.
"I know there was a request at half-time for the ruck to be sped up, hence I think it was a 7-1 penalty count against us in the second half when both teams were as scruffy as each other and two sin-binnings on the back of that.
"I know what will happen, I'll get a fine and they'll say every decision was right. I think it's a load of rubbish if I'm being honest.
"What's happened there is the official's succumbed to pressure.
"There are players in there that don't deserve what happened to them tonight. Wigan won the game because they had 13 men on longer than we did and they were gifted a lot of possession. They had enough possession to win 10 games.
"We were under the pump, some of it was our doing, but our effort, endeavour and resilience was unbelievable. I'm real proud and delighted because I can see us starting to get back into our defensive groove.
"They're devastated and made them get their heads up because I know if we continue like that, we'll get wins. There's a lot to be proud of."
Wigan coach Shaun Wane confirmed that Bateman, who led the side in the absence of regular captain Sean O'Loughlin, spoke to referee Cobb at half-time about Huddersfield allegedly slowing down the play-the-ball.
"He's allowed to speak to the referee," said Wane. "It was obvious, we were losing a second-and-a-half every ruck and he just wanted to verify that."
Bateman, Anthony Gelling and Matt Smith were Wigan's other try-scorers as they climbed to the top of Super League and left Huddersfield rock bottom.
Although it was another scrappy win, Wane was delighted with the way his patched-up side fought their way back to finish the game strongly.
"Just to grind a win like that, I'm very happy at getting two points against a really good team," he said.
"They are a very good team and were desperate for a win. They are in a false position and did a job on Warrington we couldn't do."
Wane was especially pleased with England duo Bateman and Smith.
"John's our captain," he said. "He's very young but acts like a 40-year-old. He fits in here because he's very competitive. He's desperate to win everything and they demonstrated that spirit to get the win.
"I thought Matty guided us around the park. With no George (Williams) or Lockers, he's under a lot of pressure on every single play but he's doing a very good job."
Wane confirmed that forwards Joel Tomkins and Dom Crosby pulled out of the game with knee injuries, while Huddersfield lost prop Craig Huby with a shoulder problem and centre Jake Connor with a suspected broken ankle.
