Lee Radford left stunned by Mahe Fonua's controversial sin bin

Lee Radford was left bewildered by Mahe Fonua's sin bin as he expressed fears of rugby league shooting itself in the foot with the current disciplinary clampdown. The Castleford Tigers centre was controversially sin-binned late in the first half for a 'late tackle' on Jai Field, with the decision resulting in an outpouring of outrage from fans and players alike.

It proved a costly decision for the Tigers, who conceded twice while down to 12 men and ultimately lost the game 32-22. Following the game, Radford kept his composure but admitted that the latest crackdown was overshadowing the action on the field.

"It's not the game of rugby league, not what I was brought up with and not what I love," Radford said. "I don't know what that is, it's boxing without being able to throw a punch.

"I just thought at the beginning of the year with the Channel 4, Premier on a Monday, there were some really high-quality games, there was a real buzz around the game, something I've not seen for such a long time, and all we're talking about is this. We shouldn't be, we should be rewarding some of the good stuff going on out there and off the field as well with the direction the game is going and supporting itself. But how many times am I getting asked these questions every week, in typical rugby league fashions, we shoot ourselves in the foot."

Radford has now seen his side receive three yellow cards in two televised games. The Tigers boss conceded he was "petrified" of his side being shown on TV in fear of further punishments.

"I said this last week, we played Hull a fortnight ago and I'm watching the week before some of the challenges, you can cite them to Paul Cullen but snitches get stitches where I come from so I'd never do that. But