Brown left fuming as O'Loughlin escapes for Giants hit

He was seething after Wigan's Sean O'Loughlin was not punished more severely for a crude late challenge on his hooker Luke Robinson during their 28-10 loss in Edinburgh.

The Warriors captain could easily have received a red card for the high shot in the 13th minute but conceded a mere penalty and received a verbal warning from referee Ben Thaler.

Brown revealed he will have no problem with his own enforcers taking the matter into their own hands if similar actions happen again.

"I'll quite clearly instruct my players, if the officials are going to allow people to hit our key players late and in the head, you do it back," he said.

"O'Loughlin's a fine player and you can understand him targeting Robbo as an important player for us.

"But, as a whole, in the game, I think the officials can do better and protect the small players.

"If the officials don't do it, next time we play Keith Mason or Dave Fa'ologo they are going to fix it up for us. That is the way it is," he said.

"If one of my players took out one of their players late, I would expect one of their big blokes to do something about it if the officials aren't.

"I've got some blokes who are quite capable of handling themselves – Keith and Dave handle themselves very well – and they'll be under my instructions, if the officials ain't going to look after the small people, to make sure they look after them – and don't hold back.

"Rugby league is a rough game and they played a little rougher and a little better than us today."

Brown's frank and hard-hitting comments are likely to see him come under investigation from the RFL while the rivals meet again in less than two week's time at the Galpharm Stadium for an encounter which will be more eagerly awaited than ever.

However, the Australian offered no excuses for his side's under-performance against a Wigan team who regained top spot in Super League.

Level 4-4 at the break, Huddersfield fell apart soon after the re-start as they conceded three tries in 10 minutes.

"We had a 15-minute period where Wigan basically ran harder and tackled harder than us," said Brown.

"We started the second period soft and they were just far superior.

"Wigan are obviously going very well and are playing a little better than us as the table suggests but I think we can improve and I'm sure we'll play them a few more times down the track."