St Helens' coach Jamahl Lolesi slams Kyle Amor's red card against Wigan
Friday 14 April 2017 17:53, UK
St Helens' caretaker coach Jamahl Lolesi accused referee Ben Thaler of short-changing fans with his dismissal of prop Kyle Amor in St Helens' 29-18 defeat by Wigan.
Saints played all but the first 12 minutes of the Good Friday derby down to 12 men after Amor was sent off for a high tackle on Wigan winger Liam Marshall, a decision that angered Lolesi due to Thaler's failure to consult video referee Phil Bentham before brandishing a red card.
"It just wasn't a red card," said Lolesi, who is in temporary charge of St Helens alongside Sean Long and Derek Traynor following the sacking of Keiron Cunningham as head coach at the start of the week.
"Ben Thaler didn't lose us the game - he didn't miss the tackles or pass the balls - but what I thought was really poor was that the video ref is there to make calls on foul play.
"When you are an official, take the emotion out of it, take the crowd out of it and make the right decision, especially in a derby game.
"I just don't understand why you don't do that. I can't figure it out. What's most important is making the right decision, whether it's a red or whether it's a yellow, make the right one. Today it was the wrong one.
"We didn't get lots of other calls throughout the game. I didn't think the officiating was great and I thought it affected what was going to be a great game.
"I feel sorry for the fans that paid to come and watch a 13 v 13 derby, they got short-changed as well as us."
Despite the sending-off, Saints played with tremendous spirit and were only three points down at 15-12 after 57 minutes.
However, Wigan gradually took advantage of the extra man as they ran in three tries in the last quarter against the visitors' tiring defence.
"I couldn't ask for any more," Lolesi said. "They really fought hard for the club and for each other, they gave it absolutely everything.
"I'm really pleased with the effort. We could have done a few things better defensively and with the ball but when you are playing against the champions with 12 men at their place, it makes it pretty hard."
Despite a fifth defeat in nine matches, St Helens fans were encouraged with the debut of 20-year-old winger Regan Grace.
The Wales international got his chance in the absence of Jonny Lomax, who was ruled out with a dead leg, with Tommy Makinson switching to full-back, and took it with aplomb, producing two outstanding breaks as well as a spectacular finish to score his side's second try that kept them in contention.
"He was fantastic, it's credit to our junior system," Lolesi added. "You won't see too many better debuts, it was something to cheer about."
Marshall, showing no ill-effects from Amor's tackle, scored two second-half tries and centre Joe Burgess also touched down twice on his return from injury as Wigan gained their first win in five matches to give coach Shaun Wane his eighth Good Friday win in a row.
"I'm not really bothered how we play in a game like that, we just wanted to get two points," Wane said. "Lots of credit needs to go to St Helens, who had a real dig at us.
"I thought we could have been a bit smarter but we scored some good tries. I thought Liam Farrell and Lockers (Sean O'Loughlin) were good."
Wane was also pleased with the contribution of stand-off George Williams 48 hours after signing a new long-term deal with the club.
"You could tell a weight has been lifted off his shoulders," he said. "He had been nowhere near his normal standard but he played with some composure. It was great work getting him tied down."
The champions were boosted by the return of hooker Michael McIlorum from a 14-month lay-off with a broken and dislocated ankle. He played 20 minutes and, according to Wane, reported no ill-effects.
"He asked to come off 12 minutes into the second half, which is not like him, and he wanted to go back on at the end but my physio would have killed me," Wane said.
"I had to over-rule here to play him. His return was one of the biggest positives."
