Monday 29 May 2017 20:41, UK
Leigh owner Derek Beaumont took the unusual step of taking the post-match press conference after his side lost 38-0 to Castleford, and criticised the standard of refereeing in Betfred Super League.
Beaumont said poor officials were making Super League "a joke shop" after Tigers winger Greg Eden scored four tries, including a hat-trick inside five minutes at the end of the first half, as Castleford completed a league double over the struggling Centurions to cement their place at the top of the table.
Beaumont was unhappy with a number of decisions made by referee Chris Kendall during the contest.
"I want to talk about the official and everything in general that's outside of our control," he said.
"We have got a coach there (Neil Jukes) in the dressing room and a bunch of guys who are doing everything they can.
"But I've kept quiet all year and said nothing about conversions that go wide of the sticks and officials put their flags up. It all stems from the referee's performance against Wakefield (28-24 loss on March 23), which I thought was disgusting which I took up with (RFL chief operating officer) Ralph Rimmer and I texted him at half-time saying, 'Sorry Ralph, I'm speaking up, fine me if you want to'.
"I can't accept what's gone out there. I'm completely not happy with the performance of Chris Kendall. Take nothing away from Castleford - they're absolutely on fire, they're a superb rugby team and I was looking forward to watching them.
"I didn't expect us to win the game but I thought we competed pretty well. I thought Chris Kendall had a better second half - whether someone spoke to him in the first half I don't know.
"Every time they get over, he goes to the screen and they get a second chance. When we get over, he doesn't. Why hasn't he gone to the screen at the end there?
"Glenn Stewart gets taken out of the game in the first 10 minutes - we get a penalty but no yellow card. There are lots of calls in every game. And it's not just our game, it's the game in general.
"You talk to every owner and coach and they can't say anything because they're scared of getting fined. I don't care about getting fined, I really genuinely don't.
"We need to stand up as a sport and talk about it because it's making our game look like a laughing stock. It's a joke shop. It's incompetent and it's not good enough.
"I'm accountable to my fans. I'm accountable to the finance paying the wages when the fans don't turn up on the back of us getting beat. The coach is accountable to me and I'm protecting him. And the players are accountable to him. Now I'm sat here because I don't expect him to answer questions today. He can't control what's gone on in the middle.
"It's game-wide. Where's the referee's accountability? I want to see the referees do better. The game is too complicated when it can be so much simpler.
"I can control the controllables but I'm getting sick of things that I can't control affecting me. Who deals with the referees when they don't perform? They haven't got enough of them and they ain't good enough."
Castleford coach Daryl Powell was especially pleased with his side's first-half performance, which saw them race into a 28-0 lead.
He said: "I thought we were superb in the second 20 minutes of the first half. We defended well all the way through but made too many errors when we got in attacking positions early on.
"To nil a team is very difficult to do and we showed some last-ditch stuff there which shows the character in the team. We have done that twice now this season (against Widnes and Leigh) and they are big results for us.
"I thought our attitude was outstanding, given we've just had the second ridiculous short turnaround this season. It's crazy how that has been put together.
"The boys have put a lot of emphasis on defence this year and they were delighted to keep a clean sheet."
