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Hull FC boss calls for disciplinary change with warning fired to his players

Hull FC head coach John Cartwright has called for the proposed new disciplinary system to be changed whilst firing a warning to his players.

News of a new disciplinary system was first broken by League One side Keighley Cougars as they revealed that forward Brad England would serve a three-match ban, with the club explaining the reasons why.

In their reasoning, they outlined the new points-based disciplinary system that sees charges elicit points as opposed to bans. Those points then add up throughout the season with players being handed bans when they hit certain thresholds.

How the new disciplinary system will work in 2025

One aspect of the system was the fact that charges carry over from the 2024 season with a player’s running disciplinary points total being based on the past 12 months. For example, Ligi Sao of Hull FC was handed a Grade D charge for a match on February 15th of last year.

Currently, the points assigned from that charge are on his record but by Round Two of the current season, those points will be wiped. Players who landed heavy charges near the back end of the 2024 season will therefore be on more of a disciplinary tightrope.

The RFL did confirm that they have “agreed to reconsider some of the detail of the charges, specifically relating to historic charges” meaning that could yet change, something that Hull FC head coach John Cartwright is pleased about.

Hull FC boss calls for disciplinary change

- 07/01/2025 - Rugby League - Betfred Super League - Hull FC Media Day - The MKM Stadium, Hull, England - John Cartwright.

Credit: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com

Cartwright recently spoke with BBC Radio Humberside about the disciplinary process and how it could affect his side with the Australian calling for it to “start fresh”.

He said: “Hopefully it all starts fresh. I think they’re discussing that proposal at the moment as a game and we should have an answer on that pretty quickly with the season starting soon.”

The RFL had confirmed that the final version of the guidelines will be published in “the first week of February”, meaning that they will be set in stone before Round Three of the Challenge Cup.

Cartwright, who has spent all of his coaching career in the NRL, is well aware of the pressing changes around head knocks with the Australian seemingly having no issue with that aspect of the disciplinary process.

He said: “It’s the way the game is going where head knocks, accidental or not are not going to be tolerated. It’s been like that for a couple of years now. As coaches and players we just need to adapt to it.

“I don’t think the rules are going to change all that much, it will be more the penalties and the ongoing flow on if it’s a repeat offender.”

One thing that’s clear is his expectation of his players regarding contact with the head as he explained he will be “disappointed” if the team start picking up charges for ‘controllable’ head knocks.

Cartwright explained: “It’s been like that for a couple of years where you can’t go near the head of a player or hit a player late. Sometimes there are going to be accidents and we can’t control that but it’s the ones that we can control that I’d be disappointed if we start getting.”

During the 2024 season, Hull FC were one of the most penalised teams but it is apparent that the former Brisbane Broncos assistant is intent on drilling that out.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Johnny

    February 5, 2025 at 9:22 pm

    The dirtiest two players in super league last season were Lewis and minchella who got away with murder
    Lewis squeezed a players windpipe put his hand in a Alan players mouth and said he had been bit kicked ligi Sao min accused Brad fash of biting grabbing his privates
    Fash cleared
    What happened to the two mentioned seeet f a
    Yellow card kuntle hates fc so does Cullen and moore the games bent and corrupt

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