Disciplinary panel verdict to be delayed as St Helens and Leeds Rhinos wait on potential bans

Monday is perhaps the worst day of the week for any and all of us, but for players hoping to figure in a Grand Final it’s even worse.

All the St Helens and Leeds players can do this weekend is nervously wait for the verdict from the disciplinary panel tomorrow which may determine whether or not they can feature in the Grand Final, the 25th decider in the competition’s history five of which have seen St Helens and Leeds meet.

However, they’re set to wait even longer than usual with the RFL entering into a 24 hour silence on all of its official social media channels tonight ahead of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral tomorrow and a one-minute silence in a national moment of reflection this evening at 8pm.

This means the match review panel’s verdict will not be released until 19:30 tomorrow evening when Leeds and Saints players may discover whether or not they will be available for the title decider on Saturday.

Ahead of a National Moment of Reflection this evening, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's funeral tomorrow, the Rugby Football League's social media channels will remain silent for 24 hours.

Tomorrow's Match Review Panel sanctions will be published at 7:30pm. pic.twitter.com/w9wBEit3jf

— Rugby Football League (@TheRFL) September 18, 2022

On the face of it Leeds have little to worry about it with the big moment of their game set to be reviewed by the panel coming from a Wigan player as John Bateman took out Aidan Sezer late after a kick resulting in a red card.

Sezer will now miss the Grand Final due to category one symptoms suffered from the hit even though he felt fine afterwards and passed the Head Injury Assessment.

Bateman will likely pick up a ban which could see him miss a chunk of the World Cup which is a blow certainly after Alex Walmsley’s injury.

Meanwhile St Helens are more likely to have things to be nervous about after Morgan Knowles was sin binned in the semi-final against Salford for a chicken wing tackle on Chris Atkin however Saints boss Kristian Woolf said he would be “flabbergasted” to see Knowles banned saying he saw nothing “dangerous” in the incident.

There is also some thought that Jack Welsby could receive a ban for what many regarded as a great tackle on Atkin with replays showing accidental contact with the head which left Atkin with a busted lip.

However former Rhino Richie Mathers has come to his defence calling the scrutiny of tackles like this “boring.”

Both men will have to wait until 19:30 to see what the panel says of their incidents.