Denis Betts feels sorry for grieving Darrell Griffin but feels red card decision correct
Last Updated: 01/06/15 1:05pm
Widnes coach Denis Betts expressed his sympathy for a grieving Darrell Griffin but insisted he deserved to be sent off in Salford's 38-16 defeat in the Magic Weekend opener in Newcastle.
Griffin made history by playing alongside younger brothers Josh and George, just four days after the death of their father Martin from a heart attack at the age of 58.
It was the first time three brothers had played together in Super League but Darrell was dismissed on the stroke of half-time for a high tackle and Josh was sin-binned three minutes from the end for punching as 11-man Salford went down to a sixth successive Super League defeat.
"It's a red card, that's the rules," Betts said. "He's made contact with the head with a swinging arm.
"You've got to feel for the Griffin boys today, it's an emotional day for them, an emotional game played by lads who are very, very emotional. I know myself it would have been hard to take.
"They might argue differently but, when you're playing a physical contact sport, emotion plays a big part and when you've got as much emotion and stuff running through their bodies - it's a very sad time for them, everybody feels for them.
"It's a tough thing to have to do play in a game that's so physical but if it was one of our lads I wouldn't have any disagreement with it being a red card."
Salford coach Iestyn Harris believed a sin-binning would have been a more appropriate punishment for prop forward Griffin but he had no complaints over the result.
"I think it was a harsh sending-off," he said. "I don't think there was any particular malice in it, it's just a mistimed one.
"Probably a yellow card in that instance is sufficient for me, it was a real tough one for us to get a red card at that stage.
"It was my understanding that that was what the yellow card was there for, for an infringement like that.
"I thought our attitude was wrong from the start of the game. I thought Widnes had a lot more energy than us and they were a lot more eager than us.
"At half-time I said exactly that to the players that they just wanted it a little bit more than us in that first half. You can't go into a game like that.
"The attitude in the second half was a lot better but the game's already gone then. You can't afford to go into games with the mentality not 100 per cent right."
Harris admitted he was faced with a selection dilemma after the Griffin brothers put their hands up to play.
"It's been an emotional week," he said. "The Griffin boys weren't in training at the early stage of the week. We weren't sure whether they were going to play.
"Obviously the priorities were the family. They put their hand up to play but then it does become emotional. We tried to talk about the process as well but it certainly does become emotional and whether that has affected the players, I'm not sure but certainly the attitude of the teams wasn't right."