‘Bad decision’ – Hull KR star’s ‘ugly’ sin bin prompts ban fears from pundits

Hull KR left the Leigh Sports Village following an impressive win with fears about whether they will have captain Elliot Minchella banned for the remaining games of the season.

That was the suggestion from Sky Sports’ Brian Carney who argued that the talk of the coaches on the M62 would be the fate of Elliot Minchella when Monday’s Match Review Panel rolls around.

The England international was sent to the sin bin just after the hour mark for a high swinging arm on Leigh full-back Matt Moylan when the score was 22-0 and the Robins were in control.

Bizarrely, due to a foul in the build-up, Hull KR were actually awarded a penalty further back which Mikey Lewis kicked to make the score 24-0, a score that would remain until the hooter went.

Referee Chris Kendall explained to Minchella that because full-back Matt Moylan was falling backwards and therefore losing height, there was mitigation but there are now serious concerns from those in the Sky Sports studio about whether Hull KR will have their captain for the final game of the season against Leeds Rhinos, and possibly beyond.

Pundits assess ‘ugly’ Hull KR sin bin

Recent punishments for ‘Head Contact’ charges have seen players such as Paul Vaughan banned for three matches, something that would see Minchella miss the remainder of the season and the play-0ffs should Hull KR make the top two.

That won’t definitely be the case and he could even escape without a charge but it was a tackle that had Jon Wilkin wincing as he assessed the ‘ugly-looking’ tackle.

Reacting to footage on Sky Sports, the Hull-born pundit said: “Wow it was ugly, ugly looking. Elliot Minchella’s tidy, isn’t he? Disciplined, and really clean. We did a comparison between him and Morgan Knowles in terms of discipline.

“It’s needlessly aggressive looking and I don’t think he’s malicious. I don’t think there’s a great deal of intent in it, but it’s clumsy. It’s messy.”

Former Leeds Rhinos man, Jamie Jones-Buchanan added: “It’s clumsy. He wants to bang him. I’ve listened to all the coaches talking about head contact all year but you look at him and the position they’re in, why even risk that with where they’re at right now and what the consequences could be?”

What fate will Elliot Minchella face?

The contact that Minchella made with Moylan came from his arm but it appeared to be a glancing blow and there was certainly ‘mitigation’ in the decreasing height of the Australian.

Brian Carney argued that should Minchella be charged, Hull KR may be forced to challenge and explain away the issue to free their captain from any possible ban.

He stated: ” Hull KR will have to put a case together if they challenge any grading that he may get and say, ‘this is what we have in mitigation’.”

Jon Wilkin continued to pound the drum for Minchella’s clean disciplinary record before even arguing that it’s a tackle that ‘looks worse than it is’, something that could go in the favour of the Robins.

Wilkin reasoned: “The mitigation is when he goes to the RFL, when they print your record out if there’s not many sheets of A4 come off that machine, you’re in a better position. I’d say Minchella’s in that position.

“For mitigation, Moylan’s falling and leaning back but I just don’t think he needs to carry that much force into a tackle when there’s a vulnerable-ish defender there. It’s just a bad decision from him. It looks worse than what it actually is.”

Hull KR take on Leeds Rhinos next week knowing that a point would be good enough to secure a home semi-final, something that could be secured today if Warrington fail to beat Huddersfield Giants.