Hull KR boss blasts red cards after dramatic win at 'dominant' Leeds Rhinos

Leeds boss Brad Arthur felt neither Rhinos captain Ash Handley nor Robins forward Sauaso Sue should have been dismissed, after both saw red in separate incidents for shoulder contact to the head of an opponent. “I agree, absolutely. Peters said in his post-match press conference. “Maybe you give 10 minutes for both, but they are certainly not a red card. We don’t want to be going down that track.”

Peters - who felt Leeds dominated most of the game - added: “I’ll talk about my player and I am not sure what Jesse [Sue] is meant to do in that situation. It is a contact sport and unfortunately, we are going to have some accidents. The players are doing everything they can.

“We don’t coach and teach our players to go out and tackle above shoulders. Ten years ago there were all these different types of tackles that came in and they got that out of the game and so they should, because it wasn’t right - chopping in at the ankles and knees and chicken wings and that sort of stuff. No coach would teach that at all, what they teach is to go in and be physical with contact, step into contact, make sure it’s legal and you are wrapping your arm around. I get that sometimes there’s going to be accidents, but I don’t think tonight’s was a red card.”

Assessing the game, Peters felt Rhinos, who led 14-6 as late as the 65th minute, were on top for much of a pulsating contest. “Credit to our team, we are a tough team - our players are tough and connected and we had to be to get through and win that game,” he reflected.

“I thought Leeds were dominant for long periods and when we went down to 12 men we found a way to connect. I liked how our spine connected, I thought it was the best they have connected, but I thought our spine was off for a large part of the game, until we went down to 12. Then they teamed up and we caused a few problems.”

Peters conceded he thought the game was up when Leeds went two scores ahead. He said: “Sometimes as a coach you think this isn’t going to go our way. Leeds were more dominant than us and I knew we’d fight to the end, but I was thinking how are we going to get those points? When we got a try I thought there’s an opportunity here if we keep playing the same way - which we did.”