Hull KR’s Elliot Minchella appeal success chances rated by pundit after ‘Man of Steel’ claim

Sky Sports pundit Jon Wilkin believes recent precedent suggests Hull KR might be unsuccessful in their appeal against Elliot Minchella’s ban. The Rovers loose forward and captain has been handed a two-game ban for what was deemed to be a recklessly high challenge on Matt Moylan last Friday night.

As it stands the ban will see him miss KR’s clash with Leeds Rhinos on Friday and KR’s first play-off game, whenever that may be. However, the Robins have chosen to appeal the decision in the hope of seeing his ban reduced.

An appeal hearing has been deferred to next week with the east Hull outfit due to the availability of their preferred defence team. As such, he will definitely miss this week’s contest at Craven Park, with a decision beyond that to be made following the completion of the regular campaign.

Wilkin has labelled Minchella his ‘Man of Steel’ for the season, with his performances in the KR pack proving instrumental on a regular basis. As such, he believes it’s a real shame that as it stands, Minchella will sit out a play-off clash.

“He’s maybe the star player for Hull Kingston Rovers, the captain, the talisman, so important,” he told Sky Sports. “It’s a reckless challenge, a bit of a reckless challenge, and in light of the recent bans in the game…

“He’s been banned for two games, they’re appealing it but they’re waiting for the right defence to appeal this ban. For me it’s just madness going into such big games at the end of the year that we’re not going to see one of the best players and in my mind, the Man of Steel for 2024 – although he doesn’t get the votes – he might not be playing in the play-offs which is crazy.”

Asked if he felt Hull KR had a case, Wilkin added: “I think in light of what’s being going on, the disciplinary, the Match Review Panel, the yellow and red cards that have been dished out, Paul Vaughan’s red card for Warrington and you look at Tommy Makinson’s red card for St Helens, Jai Whitbread’s yellow card against Wigan. I think it’s unlikely that it will get reduced.

“It’s sad for me because you just want to see the best players play, we should be watching our best players play in the play-offs. I know discipline and looking after concussive injuries is important but for me, I think we got it wrong a long time ago and we’re still abiding to the rules that we applied six months ago that were false and not right.”