Warrington Wolves' George Williams says 'I didn't dive' after Leeds Rhinos' controversial semi-final loss
Warrington Wolves have had their say on the controversial penalty which sent them to Old Trafford and ended Leeds Rhinos’ season.
Rhinos forward James McDonnell was judged by referee Chris Kendall to have obstructed George Williams as the Warrington man chased a kick with 15 minutes remaining in yesterday’s (Friday) Betfred Super League semi-final at AMT Headingley.
Video official Liam Rush turned down Rhinos’ captain’s challenge, Ewan Irwin took the two and those points made the difference in the visitors’ 14-12 win.
Rhinos coach Brad Arthur described the penalty as “soft” and insisted McDonnell “did nothing wrong”. Williams and Wolves coach Sam Burgess were asked about the incident in a post-match press conference and, unsurprisingly, both felt the decision was correct.
Williams said: “I was running towards the ball. It wasn’t a massive touch, but when you’re running at speed and you get a little nudge, you’re off balance. I’ll have to see it back, but I’m just running and competing for the ball and got knocked over. I’m not doing no dives or anything like that. It’s part and parcel of the game.”
Warrington coach Sam Burgess also agreed with the officials’ decision. He said: “We had one last week exactly the same and it was given a penalty. We didn’t decide to challenge because, well, no one knows.
“So, I was questioning which penalty you were talking about because some of them are hard to pick anyway. Some of it is soft., but by the letter of the law, when you slow it down and freeze frame things, that’s a penalty. Simple as that."