Hull KR make appeal decision after Elliot Minchella ban

Hull KR captain Elliot Minchella was handed a two-game ban for making contact with the head of Leigh Leopards full-back Matt Moylan, an incident for which he was sin binned, and now the club have confirmed their stance on the ban.

It was a sin bin that came late in the game when the Robins were 22-0 up with Minchella tackling full-back Moylan as he went to catch a high bomb. The England international caught the Australian high on the head with a glancing blow of his left arm and had it explained to him that he had avoided a red card due to the mitigating circumstance of Moylan rapidly losing height.

However, there was not enough mitigation for the Match Review Panel to ignore the incident and they handed the Hull KR skipper with a Grade C charge which drew a two-game ban, a punishment at the higher end of the scale.

Hull KR have now confirmed that they will challenge that grading in an attempt to free up Minchella for the impending play-offs.

As it stands, he is set to miss the club’s final regular season game against Leeds Rhinos on Friday night and one play-off match. As yet, it’s undetermined if that will be a round one play-off clash or if it will be a semi-final.

Hull KR to appeal Minchella’s suspension

After the RFL confirmed the charges following Round 26 of Super League, of which there were six including two bans, Hull KR announced that they would be challenging the grading of Minchella’s ban in the hope of lowering it to a Grade B and therefore a one-game ban.

Last week saw St Helens successfully challenge the grading of Matty Lees’ offence of ‘Making contact with a match official’ as the Red Vee saw it downgraded from a Grade B to a Grade A, which meant he was free to play in Friday night’s win over Castleford Tigers.

Hull KR will hope for a similar outcome.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, they announced: “Elliot Minchella has been given a Grade C charge of ‘Head Contact’ by the Match Review Panel and received a two-match ban.

“The club will contest the grading of Minchella’s ban.”

That means that the Robins will be at an Operational Rules Tribunal tomorrow night to challenge the ban.

The only other player to be handed a ban was Catalans Dragons’ centre Arthur Romano who earned a one-match ban for ‘Head Contact’, ruling him out of Saturday’s game against Hull FC.

Elliot Minchella has been given a Grade C charge of ‘Head Contact’ by the Match Review Panel and received a two-match ban.

The club will contest the grading of Minchella’s ban. pic.twitter.com/i5c4S2yo07

— Hull KR (@hullkrofficial) September 16, 2024