Hull FC head coach Tony Smith has revealed that he was “hopeful” of overturning Ligi Sao’s three-match suspension claiming that it was a natural response to what Sao had felt like was an “attack”.
Sao saw red late on in the Super League opener between Hull FC and Hull KR with the forward taking exception to Robins’ hooker Matt Parcell who seemed to shove his hand into Sao’s face whilst he was grounded.
With the Hull FC man on his back and unable to protect himself from what Smith has now revealed Sao deemed an “attack”, he reacted by thrusting his knees towards Parcell which saw him make contact with the head.
Both Ligi Sao and Franklin Pele had their cases heard at the Operational Rules Tribunal last night and whilst Pele’s Grade E charge was upheld and he was controversially handed a three-match ban, Sao Was successful in having his grade lowered.
Unfortunately for Hull FC and Tony Smith, it was only lowered from a Grade D charge to a Grade B, but that has seen the ban reduced from three games to just one.
Tony Smith had hinted that he felt Sao could even have the ban overturned when he was asked about the club’s team news and the fact they have a whopping 13 senior players unavailable.
He told BBC Humberside: “Absolutely, there’s both injury and suspension which is where some opportunities have also been created.
“We’ve got at least two that are suspensions from last week that are holes to be filled and we’re hopeful on Ligi Sao, where that goes to hearing tonight and we’re hopeful on that one.”
“Most humans would have reacted very similarly” – Tony Smith supports Hull FC star who saw red
Despite Smith’s “hopeful” stance, Sao has still been banned but having him back after just one game on the sidelines compared to three is huge for the club.
Smith had revealed to BBC Humberside why he was hopeful: “The circumstances. I think the question of what’s reasonable under circumstances and hopefully, we’ll get a fair hearing and people would understand what some of the circumstances were and the situation that you find yourself in.
“I think most human beings would probably have reacted very similarly to Ligi under the circumstances that he was under.”
He was also keen to highlight just how quickly the incident happened and that Sao was simply defending himself from Parcell, the Hull KR man was also handed a Grade B charge with a one-match ban.
Smith continued: “It was all within a time frame of two seconds and he felt very, very, very vulnerable. When you’re on your back and you feel like you’re unprotected, you’ve got to sometimes take things into your own hands and I think he was certainly trying to protect himself.
“I think most people would go into that (fight or flight) mode. I’m not saying he fought but it’s hard to lay there and relax, and not try and protect yourself. Anybody who suggests that they could do that and restrain themselves from acting on what he felt like was an attack on him, that’s pretty hard.”
Given the major injury issues for the club and the fact that both Franklin Pele (three matches) and Herman Ese’ese (two matches) have been banned alongside Sao, there are plenty of opportunities for some young players which Smith has taken as a positive.
“We’ve definitely got two other suspensions in Franklin and Herman. So there’s at least five opportunities for new faces and maybe six,” he concluded.
