As a player, you know that you are in trouble when the coach singles you out – and for Wigan fullback Sam Tomkins, he faced the brunt of an angry Wigan coach in Shaun Wane, after he was sin-binned during his side’s win against the London Broncos, 48-18.
Returning from a shoulder injury, Tomkins was sent to the sin-bin after vehemently disputing a decision that was made by match referee Robert Hicks and the on-field officials.
For Wane, whilst he thinks the sin-bin itself was a mistake, he also lambasted Tomkins for putting himself in that situation and thus resulting in his sin-binning.
“That was the wrong call from the in-touch judge but that is no excuse and it won’t happen again,” said Wane.
“It was the wrong call but that happens in games, the referees make mistakes just like players.
“They are incidents for me to sort out in the week and not for Sam to do it on the field.
“He is a competitor, I understand he wants to win but he just cannot do that. I don’t know what he said to the referee but it must have been severe for him to sin-bin him.”
For London Broncos coach Tony Rea, he was pleased with how his side performed in the first half, but disappointed that his side could not maintain the same intensity in the second.
“You don’t get points for playing well in the first half,” said Rea.
“We had to get out and do the same in the second half and we didn’t do that.
“We have had a bad few days and the players have been a bit down but not on each other.
“They will be okay, we will all keep pulling in the right direction and we will have our moments.”