Castleford Tigers coach Ryan Carr has admitted while he understands the ruling, he doesn’t accept why winger Semi Valemei was handed a three-match ban for making contact with St Helens’ Noah Stephens.
Valemei was given a lengthy ban following the Tigers win over the Saints, after he was charged with making contact with a player who could have potentially been seriously injured.
Carr has revealed that Valemei thought Stephens was potentially having a seizure after suffering a heavy head collision which prematurely ended his involvement in the game a fortnight ago. That led to the winger attempting to put Stephens into the recovery position as a precautionary measure.
But it was ultimately punished by the Rugby Football League’s Match Review Panel – which Carr admitted he struggled to understand the logic of.
Castleford coach queries ban
Speaking in his weekly pre-match press conference, Carr admitted: “Semi is one of the most genuine and kind-hearted people you’ll ever meet in rugby league.
“What happened was he’s seen a player in real distress on the ground and he’s flagged for the referee to stop the game. He was concerned he was having a seizure and he tried to roll him into the recovery position.
“I love that my players have that type of mentality to want to help someone who is in deep need. It’s a real good trait to want to help someone as there’s more to life than rugby league and he had that player’s welfare in the highest of his thoughts.”
When asked whether he agreed with the ban, Carr continued: “The ruling, we’ve got to deal with it.. but I love my players show care for opposition players when it’s quite scary in the heat of the moment.”
Carr also said the point of the suspension which confused him most was the fact Stephens was allowed to be touched by his own team-mates – but not an opposition player who was merely trying to help.
He said: “He turned him into the recovery position but it’s a bit of a tricky one. You see that your own players are allowed to come and touch you, so I don’t quite understand that, I suppose.
“That’s what concerns me, I don’t understand the ruling when there was no malice other than to help him. I appreciate it, and I’ve got to accept that, but when your own team-mates can come in and pick you up a split second after Semi has touched him, that’s what I don’t understand.
“I applaud him for helping someone in deep distress. I can’t get my head around it, when his own team-mates can pick him up. He’s had to get that unfortunate news but he’s training really hard.”
Possible Valemei replacements
One player who could be in contention to replace Valemei on the wing this weekend is Louis Senior, who has recovered from an ankle injury and is in the reckoning to make his first-team comeback.
That would potentially pit him up against twin brother Innes, who is likely to start on the edges for the Leopards at Wheldon Road on Friday evening.
“He’s ready to roll,” Carr said. “He’s played a couple of reserve matches and trained really well. He’s forced his way back into fit form and he’s definitely in the mix.”