{"id":606777,"date":"2026-05-27T14:59:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/606777\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T14:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:59:14","slug":"wigan-warriors-star-calls-for-change-to-bonkers-captains-challenge-that-pundit-labels-a-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/606777\/","title":{"rendered":"Wigan Warriors star calls for change to \u2018bonkers\u2019 captain’s challenge that pundit labels a \u2018disaster\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The captain\u2019s challenge process in Super League is a \u2018disaster\u2019 according to pundit Jon Wilkin with Wigan Warriors winger Liam Marshall<\/a> calling for big changes to the system.<\/p>\n

Marshall, who is currently out recovering from a hamstring injury<\/a>, made an appearance on Sky Sports\u2019\u00a0The Bench Podcast<\/a>, on which Jon Wilkin is a host alongside Jenna Brooks.<\/p>\n

A feature of the podcast is the \u2018on the bench\u2019 section where guests are asked about something that they would like to bench, or eradicate from the game. For Marshall, the answer was simple enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the time it takes for the Captain\u2019s Challenge, there needs to be a cap on it,\u201d the Wigan Warriors man said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty bonkers at the minute. The momentum of the game can be stopped, the flow of the game, even for the fans it\u2019s tough.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get why we have to have it but it just deflates the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilkin agreed, going even further as he said:\u00a0\u201cI think it\u2019s been a disaster for the live experience of a game, the fan experience of a game, and the TV experience of a game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Motive for Brodie Croft Rhinos exit & Hull FC\u2019s unwanted record \u2013 Click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show<\/a><\/p>\n

Super League urged to review \u2018dull\u2019 video referee process<\/p>\n

Originally an NRL introduction to the sport, Super League followed suit and adopted the captain\u2019s challenge ahead of the 2025 season, however, less than 18 months on and it\u2019s already wearing thin.<\/p>\n

Brooks pointed out that it creates confusion more than anything else, stating: \u201cPeople at the ground have no idea what is being looked at and it takes them out (of the game).<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember being at Headingley the other week and there was a Captain\u2019s Challenge that went on and on and on. The crowd, which was such an amazing atmosphere, just slowly oozed out of the stadium and then it was gone. It didn\u2019t come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilkin agreed and put forward another aspect of the game to change as he claimed the video referee process is far too slow, as he urged officials to simply check what needs checking rather than going through each and every possible issue when the issue is generally clear.<\/p>\n

He argued: \u201cIf we are reviewing just whether he\u2019s got his foot in touch, (in a situation where) it\u2019s a try unless his foot is in touch, then we don\u2019t have to check onside\/offside, we don\u2019t have to check if someone has touched it in the air, we don\u2019t have to check the grounding, we just have to check if his foot is in touch.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a review, especially if a try has been given, and they review it in the background and they know his foot is in touch then just go to the angle that shows his foot in touch. Just say we\u2019ve looked at everything else but his foot is in touch. It takes too long, it\u2019s really dull.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The captain\u2019s challenge process in Super League is a \u2018disaster\u2019 according to pundit Jon Wilkin with Wigan Warriors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-606777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}