CASTLEFORD TIGERS head coach Danny McGuire has given his verdict on the bans handed to his back-rower Jeremiah Simbiken and Leeds Rhinos prop Tom Holroyd.
Simbiken accepted two charges of Grade B and Grade C Dangerous Contact following Castleford’s 38-24 defeat to Leeds on Sunday.
Added to the six points the PNG international had already accrued and Simbiken received a two-match ban following the new disciplinary points system introduced ahead of the 2025 season.
McGuire, after revealing that Simbiken would sit out just one Super League fixture with the Tigers able to use a reserves game to eat up one of his two-game suspension, believes that the back-rower should have received just the one charge.
“That stuff is out of my control. We sent some things into the disciplinary for one of Jeremiah’s tackles which I didn’t think was too bad with the other one worth a game,” McGuire said.
There was also a flashpoint on Sunday afternoon when Holroyd was tackled by Castleford’s George Hill, with the former appearing to hold the latter’s arm on the floor.
Castleford’s Joe Westerman reacted, and though the incident was looked at by video referee Tom Grant, no further action was taken.
Initially, Holroyd was charged with Grade E Dangerous Contact and sent immediately to an Operational Rules Tribunal.
But, at the said Tribunal, Leeds and Holroyd were able to reduce the charge to Grade D which resulted in a two-match ban.
McGuire has also given his view on that said incident.
“The Tom Holroyd incident; he is a good, lovely kid and a great player. It looked ugly there’s no getting away from that, but I think in sport, and I’ve been there, you sometimes do things in the heat of the moment.
“I’m not sure he’s that type of kid so a couple of games is probably fair. You don’t want to see players on the sidelines too much but he will learn from it and it will make him a better player.”
