Brian McDermott of Leeds Rhinos praises James Child - Rugby League News
Brian McDermott of the Leeds Rhinos praised the referee, James Child, after his side’s 31-24 win over the Huddersfield Giants. McDermott was happy with the referee for going with the right decisions when the pressure against him was mounting. McDermott was
especially pleased by Child’s decision on the second try from Ryan Hall at the 66th minute of the game, even though the crowd claimed a knock-on.
Carl Ablett’s ball was intercepted by an opponent when he had just made it past the touch-line. After that it was picked up and was touched back in by Hall.
The crowd was pressuring the referee to go with the knock-on but he did not succumb to the temptation. This move from the referee largely pleased Leeds’ coach. It showed that the decision of the referee could not be influenced easily.
While speaking about the referee’s correct decision despite the pressure building up against him, McDermott added, "The whole world was calling for a knock-on. But the referee didn't buckle under the pressure. He made the correct decision. I thought the
referee gave a very strong performance. I think they were calling at one stage for the hot dog seller to be given offside. It would have been easy for a referee to buckle under that kind of pressure. Huddersfield did very well to come back from 12-0 down to
lead at the break. But after that, our defence was magnificent. We repelled everything they threw at us.”
Leeds’ coach seemed very happy with Child, especially when he had to take a decision against the majority opinion which exhibited strength of his on-field role that was free from any influence amidst the extremely aggravated Huddersfield crowd.
McDermott appreciated the way the Giants fought back their way from a 12-0 deficit to grab the lead before the break. The momentum was brokenafter the break because of the strong defence from Leeds as the team was able to turn down all that was hurled at
them by their opponents.
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