Castleford boss responds to George Lawler suspension

Castleford head coach Lee Radford has had his say on George Lawler and his three-match suspension.

Castleford’s George Lawler received a three-match ban following the club’s victory over Toulouse in the Super League.

Radford’s side claimed their second league win of the season so far with a 32-6 score at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.

Lawler, 26, will miss Castleford’s next three games, charged with a Grade C Dangerous Throw. He will miss the club’s Challenge Cup quarter finals clash against Hull KR at Craven Park this Friday.

He will also miss their fixtures against Wakefield and Leeds in Super League.

Radford reacts to George Lawler suspension

“I can accept the ban,” said Radford. “But you just look for consistency. When you see some others that have not been punished as heavy, that’s my only frustration. Just disappointing when you find others in other games when you’re previewing opposition teams.”

The former Hull boss also admitted that he considered to appeal the charge, but wasn’t confident in the counterargument.

“I didn’t know what my argument would be,” Radford said.

“It would be, ‘look, I’ve got a similar tackle here that didn’t get penalised, why has that not been penalised and this one has?’

“But you’d go to an independent tribunal and they’d say it probably should have been. So, there wasn’t much of an argument there.

“Like I said, I had no issues with it providing every one I see moving forward, and I’ve seen some previously that haven’t been charged, I have no issues with it if it’s all level across not the shirt you’ve got on, it’s the fact they’re getting picked up.”

Squad update

The Castleford coach confirmed that Daniel Smith is expected to return to his squad.

He added: “I think we have a clean bill of health. The only obvious one is George. Dan Smith is back in contention.”

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