Leeds Rhinos boss defends Harry Newman following sin-bin in Leigh defeat

Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur was left unhappy by Harry Newman’s sin-binning in their defeat at Leigh Leopards, questioning what the offence he committed was.

England international Newman was shown yellow by referee Tom Grant midway through the second half at the Leopards’ Den alongside Leigh’s Matt Davis.

The pair were front and centre of a fracas which erupted between the two sides after the hosts were awarded a penalty for what is believed to have been deemed a high shot.

That wasn’t the first fracas of a game which threatened to boil over throughout, with the Super League clash ending 26-14 in Leigh’s favour on home soil.

Leeds Rhinos boss defends Harry Newman following sin-bin in Leigh defeat

Newman’s running battle was with opposite number Tesi Niu throughout the clash, with the pair coming to blows on more than one occasion, including the first which ended in a Leopards penalty midway through the first half.

Speaking post-match, Rhinos head coach Arthur addressed that incident as well as the one in the second half which led to the yellows for both Newman and Davis.

He wasn’t left impressed by the 0utcome of either, as he said: “I don’t know what it (the card) was for, but the ref obviously thought it was warranted for both of them to be off (the field).

“I thought those three tackles we made on the try-line (in the build-up to the fracas) were really good with good line speed, and I couldn’t see high collision.

“To be fair to Harry, I think the penalty against him in the first half, he got up at marker and got pushed first.

“I’m not sure if you can Captain’s Challenge a referee’s decision there to reverse it, I need to find out about that. If you can, we would’ve.

“The penalty should have gone to us. They got up with the ball and pushed Harry, not the other way round, he just stood his ground.

“Outside of that, I didn’t think he did anything else. He was just aggressive down on the try-line, but I need to look at the video to make sure I’m right.”

At the end of a first half which lasted 50 minutes, the total penalty count was in double figures, but both sides had been left frustrated by the constant stop-start nature of the contest.

Arthur added: “There were a couple of penalties around high (head) contact, and I’m not sure if they actually were high contact.

“Everyone got a bit frustrated, but it was all played in pretty good spirit.”