Disciplinary: Ex-Super League man banned for “abusive language” towards official

Former Super League winger Ben Jones-Bishop is one of four players from the Championship and League One to fall foul of disciplinary guidelines and be handed a ban with the veteran charged with “foul and abusive language towards a match official”.

The disciplinary news from the competitions below Super League was confirmed yesterday with the Match Review Panel finding Jones-Bishop and three other players worthy of sanctions, all four men being handed bans.

Jones-Bishop’s Grade C charge of “foul and abusive language towards a match official” carried a one-game ban, whilst both Luke Nelmes of Rochdale Hornets and Liam Harris of York Knights were also hit with one-game bans.

Nelmes was punished for dangerous contact as a Grade B offence whereas Harris was punished for a dangerous throw at a Grade C charge.

The fourth man was Jack Skelton of Newcastle Thunder who copped a two-game ban for his grade D charge of contact to the head which also saw him pick up a £40 fine.

Disciplinary: Why was ex-Super League winger banned?

It’s the ban of Jones-Bishop that has attracted the most attention though with the winger reportedly “disputing using any foul and abuse or aggressive language and/or body language”, per the Match Review Panel minutes.

The Jamaican international has formerly played for Leeds Rhinos, Salford Red Devils and Wakefield Trinity in Super League, racking up a total of 216 appearances and 129 tries in the top tier.

He made the move to Sheffield Eagles ahead of the 2022 season and has been a standout for the club since the move but they will miss him for next week’s game against Swinton Lions.

Moreover, Jones-Bishop has an exemplary disciplinary record with just three previous citations within the past five years, those being a caution for dangerous contact in Super League and two cases of no further action.

That could explain why he was only handed a one-game ban despite being hit with a Grade C charge which does carry a possible ban of two matches.

It was a far busier week in Super League where seven players were cited with five initially banned and another heading to tribunal.

Of those, one player won an appeal in Leeds Rhinos’ Cam Smith, whilst Liam Byrne was handed a four-game ban for his Grade E charge of making head contact with Mark Percival in the clash on Good Friday.

All Super League disciplinary bans can be found here.