Leigh Leopards fell to a 12-4 defeat against St Helens last night in a game that had plenty of action, including a yellow card within just one minute, and that decision alongside others has caused an uproar among fans of the Leopards.
Adrian Lam’s side had lost their Super League opener against Huddersfield Giants at the Leigh Sports Village but they were without a game in Round Two on due to Wigan’s participation in the World Club Challenge.
As for last night’s opponents St Helens, they swept away the same Huddersfield team that the Leopards had lost to, defeating them 28-0 which created ominous signs for Leigh.
A Jack Welsby first-half score was cancelled out by Zak Hardaker’s barge over early in the second half but a Tommy Makinson try and a penalty from Mark Percival were enough to stave off the Leopards who saw Brad Dwyer also sin-binned late on.
Leigh Leopards have now lost both games in Super League and could be set to lose some of their key spine players with John Asiata and Brad Dwyer both shown yellow cards and potentially set to face disciplinary action.
Leigh Leopards go down to 12 in seconds causing outrage among fans
Leigh Leopards will now be chasing their first win of the season next week when they face Leeds Rhinos but fans have been reflecting on the loss to St Helens, and they’re not happy at all with the sin bins their team suffered.
The footage of John Asiata’s yellow card for a tackle he made just 41 seconds into the game was shared by one account who went on to claim that the decision to sent the Leigh skipper to the bin was a sign of corruption.
Posting on X, they said: “41 SECONDS IN TO R3 AND SIN BIN FOR A TACKLE ROUND THE LEGS #RugbyLeague #SuperLeague #RFLcorrupt”
41 SECONDS IN TO R3 AND SIN BIN FOR A TACKLE ROUND THE LEGS🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 #RugbyLeague #Superleague @LeighLeopardsRL @Saints1890 #RFLcorrupt pic.twitter.com/6gG3PQaEvA
— Super League Away Fans (@RLawayfans23) March 1, 2024
The tackle was reminiscent of the tackles Asiata made against St Helens in the Challenge Cup semi-finals, a tackling technique that caused four injuries with two being season-ending.
The refereeing of Liam Moore was also questioned in one fan’s assessment as they stated: “Moore also didn’t help but we go again.”
Unlucky lads can’t beat Saints on that pitch. Moore also didn’t help but we go again
— Adam Wilkinson (@AdamWilky217) March 1, 2024
One went further, arguing: “Liam Moore f**king hates Leigh, should never be able to referee us again.”
Liam Moore fucking hates Leigh should never be able to referee us again 🤡 https://t.co/99EavXSkrY
— Shaun Myers (@ShaunyMyers) March 1, 2024
Many Leigh fans accepted the defeat graciously, however, they did take issue with the targeting that John Asiata got from a lot of fans online and also on Sky Sports.
Jon Wilkin had labelled Asiata as a “circus clown”, something that a number of Leopards fans claimed was unprofessional.
One posted: “Think the Wilkin Asiata incident needs looking into. He cant go round abusing players. Is he not supposed to be there as a neutral.”
Think the Wilkin Asiata incident needs looking into. He cant go round abusing players. Is he not supposed to be there as a neutral. @SkySportsRL @LeighLeopardsRL
— Sam Brown (@SamB__1990) March 1, 2024
Another added: “Say what you want to but abusing John Asiata is a joke at this point. He got sent off because he’s John Asiata not because it was a bad tackle. Wilkin could loose his job if what he said spreads. It’s embarrassing at this point.”
Say what you want to but abusing John Asiata is a joke at this point. He got sent off because he’s John Asiata not because it was a bad tackle. Wilki could loose his job if what he said spreads. It’s embarrassing at this point
— Oli (@OL1B05) March 1, 2024
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