Tony Smith takes jibe at RFL as Hull FC star banned

Hull FC haven’t had much luck so far this season and whilst some of it has been their own doing, much of it has been out of their control.

They shouldn’t be able to have too many complaints from the opening night loss to Hull KR, but they can certainly question how they would have fared against Warrington Wolves if Nu Brown wasn’t sent off.

The Hull FC hooker saw red before half-time for an incident that the RFL have now confirmed was not a red card offence, however, Tony Smith’s side went on to be outscored 30-4 from that point onwards.

Smith has maintained that the loss can’t be blamed on that, but he’s now been left questioning another disciplinary decision which was the two-game ban handed to Liam Sutcliffe.

The ex-Leeds Rhinos man wasn’t disciplined on the field but was handed a two-match ban for ‘making contact with a match official’, something that Hull FC appealed against at the Operational Rules Tribunal on Wednesday night.

Tony Smith has now confirmed that Hull FC were unsuccessful in that appeal with the experienced coach labelling the incident as “an accident that costs you two weeks”.

Hull FC lose another key player as Smith calls ban another “to add to the list”

The ban for Sutcliffe now means that Hull FC players have accumulated a total of eight games in bans across their opening two fixtures.

Speaking to BBC Humberside, Tony Smith explained: “Yeah, we were unsuccessful. There was an accident that cost you two weeks. He accidentally bumps into a referee.

“They surprised each other. They were running alongside each other. One slowed down, and I suppose if you didn’t walk around on that field out there then you would know, I had my flat shoes on and I was sliding all over the place. I reckon I could have had 6-inch studs on and I would have been sliding all over the place.

“You can’t ask somebody to stop and run away from the area that somebody is running in the same direction as you.  It’s just asking people to change direction so quickly and react so quickly 70-odd minutes into a match.”

Smith also underlined that there was clearly no malice in the incident, even suggesting that Sutcliffe had tried to help referee Marcus Griffiths avoid falling over after their contact.

He added: “If you watch Liam, he bumped into him and he realised the ref was going down and grabbed all of his jersey to try to hold him up. That’s not somebody who’s trying to do anything sinister and that’s worth the same as somebody who’s maybe hitting somebody around the head.

“Anyway it is what it is and we’re going to add it to the list.”

With the decision being contested it meant that Hull FC were able to meet with the RFL’s Operational Rules Tribunal to try and get the claim dismissed. When asked why the ORT upheld the ban, Smith explained what message he felt the RFL were trying to send out.

“I think pretty much if you have contact with the referee, accidental or not, they’re going to hit you with a ban,” Smith stated.

“I think that’s the message. Accidents aren’t acceptable for mere mortals I think.”