TWO things were abundantly clear in Warrington Wolves’ 16-12 defeat to Leigh Leopards in Super League Round 24.

The red card shown to Wire prop Paul Vaughan in the 11th minute ruined the spectacle for what it could have been.

And the resultant defensive effort from the remaining 16 Warrington players was nothing short of heroic.

For the period Sam Burgess’ side were down to 12 men, they outscored play-off chasing Leigh 12-10.

The effort poured into containing as good an attacking side as Leigh, orchestrated by former NRL stars Lachlan Lam and Matt Moylan, no doubt impacted on the energy levels Warrington had left to throw into attack.

It is no wonder they were not as cohesive and fluent as of late, but the fact that they scored in the 79th minute through Sam Powell from a Ben Currie break to give themselves 29 seconds with the ball in the final set of the game for even a chance of a smash-and-grab victory tells you everything about the team’s steel, resolve and fitness levels.

Wire fans would not have been surprised by this as similar gutsy efforts have been on show in previous recent matches when they have had players sent off (Saints away) or sin-binned (Leeds during Magic Weekend and Castleford away).

This contest remained absorbing as a watch in order to see if The Wire could pull off a miracle but it was not the encounter expected or paid for.

And sadly, the talking point afterwards – as has been the case far too often this season – was the officiating and the route the game seems to be taking.

Only video referee Ben Thaler, after studying no end of replays, seemed to see actions that merited a red card for Vaughan – not even the Leigh players called for it – and this will probably go down as the unlikeliest sending off this season.

For two weeks running, The Wire head coach Sam Burgess has spoken of his dislike of players feigning injury levels throughout Super League - the kind of which blights top-level football.

Now it is leading to long delays and video referee input in a way which is frustrating many long-term supporters.

Player welfare, and the legal issues surrounding head injuries in contact sport, are the root cause for such referee intervention but with players ‘playing’ on this it does not feel to be in the spirit of this most combative sports as it was.

And as Burgess pointed out, asking 12 men to perform against 13 and as regularly as it is happening is not good for their season-long welfare.

This was a match that highlighted many issues that the sport’s authorities need to get to grips with and quickly.