The Rugby Football League’s compliance department has written to Huddersfield Giants head coach Jim Lenihan after claiming there is ‘unconscious bias’ against his team.
Lenihan was speaking in the aftermath of the Giants’ defeat to Bradford Bulls, a game in which the Giants had a try disallowed in their 30-14 defeat to their West Yorkshire rivals. Lenihan went on to reference a number of moments that had left him feeling aggrieved.
Lenihan’s ‘unconscious bias’ comment
Lenihan said: “Right now at the moment, we’re a side who we just have to win a game and a half or nearly two games to try and get it to a situation where we win. They pretty much lie all over us the first half when we are all over them physically. We’re still coming into the half six points down, they finally get someone sent off and then the start of the second half, the first 10 minutes goes for nearly 20 minutes.
“It’s stop, start. They slow the game right down. We’re trying to speed it up. The second half, we contribute to it ourselves but now we’re forced to overplay and now we’re playing in our heads that we’ve got to try and force this along and it should never have been that. We should have come off that first half far more in front and at the moment, it just feels like, like I said, we’re just copping a lot of tough calls and we should be in a position where we are actually a side that’s going well.
“It’s a try every day of the week. Like I said, it’s like an unconscious bias. We’re not supposed to be scoring tries here. Huddersfield shouldn’t be going well. Oh no, it shouldn’t be there. Pull it back.”
As a result, the RFL’s compliance department has been in touch asking Lenihan him to elaborate on his comments in a formal submission. After that, the department will decide whether they deem it necessary to charge the Giants coach for his comments.
Huddersfield have lost all six games they have had under Lenihan so far and are currently six points adrift at the bottom of the Super League table. They are on an eleven match losing streak.