Daryl Powell slams ‘shocking’ referee decisions after Castleford lose at Hull

Daryl Powell described Gareth Hewer’s handling of Castleford’s 36-12 defeat at Hull as “shocking”.

Powell wants to sit down with referees and ask them why they make certain decisions so he can better understand what is allowed and what is not when it comes to the obstruction rule.

The Tigers coach was bemused by a number of calls by Hewer and called for video referees to be at all games, not just games shown live on television.

“The first half was interesting,” Powell said.

“(We’re) going back to needing a video ref at every game.

“It’s an absolute shambles, players running outside the shoulder line, nothing gets picked up.

“So we have to go back to blokes diving on the floor to show referees who don’t know what they are looking for what to look for.

“I can’t believe some of the lines that were run today that weren’t picked up.

“It was a poor and shocking performance from the referee in the first half, basic things that should be picked up weren’t picked up.

“We lost the ascendancy through some terrible decisions.

“I said a few years ago that I wanted to sit down with the referees in question and say, ‘this is my opinion and what I’m seeing, what are you seeing?’

“When you’re not on Sky, the game is a shambles.”

Despite the defeat, Powell said he was proud of the way his side performed and felt they did not deserve to be beaten by 24 points.

“I thought we were outstanding in the second half,” Powell said.

“It was more like us.

“I said at half-time we needed to complete at 90 or 100 per cent and we’ll win the game.

“There was nothing in the game. I thought the final score was harsh on us.

“I’m happier after this game than I was after beating Huddersfield because that’s more of a Castleford performance.

“I’m so proud of what we did today and there’s a massive amount for us to build on.”

Powell was without his influential playmaker Luke Gale, who has been sidelined with a serious knee injury.

Hull coach Lee Radford now faces the same prospect after Marc Sneyd was injured at the start of the second half.

Radford hopes the MCL injury is not as bad as initially thought but he is grateful to have a replacement in Jake Connor, who is ready to deputise.

“It’s a blow for us,” Radford said.

“We’re running short of pivots.

“Not playing him (Sneyd) last week hurt us.

“To not have him, the next man that steps up has to do a fantastic job.

“Jake took over the authority on the field and kicking duties and did well on both.

“We are in a luxurious position to have a back up of that calibre and it’s now a real test for us moving forward.

“We’re not as fluent as we want to be.

“We want to have success in the cup and in terms of where we wanted to be at the start of the year, we’re probably there.”