'Made an example of': Castleford Tigers prop Liam Watts questions consistency as crackdown eases

The experienced forward was sent off in round one for a shoulder to the head of Wigan Warriors front-rower Tyler Dupree and subsequently banned for four matches following a visit to the tribunal on a grade E charge, as well as being hit with a £750 fine.

It represented a nightmare start to the campaign for a player who was suspended 10 times in the previous two seasons.

Watts was one of 16 players charged for incidents in week one, a figure that dropped to four following the latest round of Super League fixtures.

"I was made an example of," he told The Yorkshire Post.

"I picked up a four-game ban for something that wasn't malicious or intentional, yet the grading of it was a grade E. The week after they changed that and started grading them as grade D which goes from a £750 fine to £250.

"Don't get me wrong, it was shoulder contact to the head but it wasn't malicious or a shoulder charge. I even had a good chat with Robert Hicks (RFL director of operations and legal) after it and asked what he would do in that situation as a player because if I wrap my arm around him, I probably break my arm because Joe Westerman hits my arm.

"I'm wracking my brain and doing a lot of stuff in training to try combat these issues but the game is not played in slo-mo.

"You look at what I did and nobody is getting penalised for that sort of stuff now. If you look from the first round to where we're at now, I think it's gone from 10 to 15 cards down to only one or two on a weekend. It's that inconsistency once again."

Watts helped Castleford to a much-needed win on his return to action against Batley Bulldogs in the Challenge Cup.

But the 33-year-old anticipates some teething problems as he grapples with his technique.

"I had loads of nervousness," he said.

"I'm getting to the stage where I'm trying not to use my shoulders; I'm real armsy and when you defend like that you do allow line breaks.

"I'm trying to make sure I'm not hurting the team and am putting all my energy into carrying the ball and trying to help that way.

"It was nice to get back into it and get some minutes under my belt which I needed.

"It's not good being sat on the sidelines missing games. Some of the results we've had, it was pretty hard to watch at times.

"At least now I've got a chance to help the team as best as I can."

Fresh from their first victory of the Craig Lingard era, Castleford host neighbours Leeds Rhinos on Thursday night.

Watts is desperate to give the Wheldon Road faithful a night to savour against the club's biggest rivals.

"One of our main focuses in the year is obviously Leeds," he said.

"We know how much it means to the fans. We're back at home and the last time we were at home we got 50 put on us by Huddersfield so we owe it to the fans to put in a good, solid performance. We've got to build on our first win of the season.

"I watched the Leeds game in the cup and I thought St Helens were awesome and would have beaten anyone that day.

"I thought Leeds gave them a really good game. They’re in good form but have played two tough games against St Helens which has taken the shine off for them a little bit. They’ve played some good rugby and are throwing the ball about a bit so we've really got to be on."