Inside Jared Waerea-Hargreaves’ appeal as Hull KR argument and referee input revealed

Referees Liam Moore and Jack Smith both played a key role in seeing Hull KR man Jared Waerea-Hargreaves win his appeal against his Grand Final ban.

Waerea-Hargreaves was hit with a Grade C charge on Monday after being deemed to inflict a head injury on St Helens winger Jon Bennison during Saturday’s Super League play-off semi-final. The Rovers veteran wasn’t punished during the game, in fact, the challenge wasn’t even deemed to be worthy of a penalty by on-field referee Moore and video referee Smith.

However, with Bennison going on to fail a HIA, the Match Review Panel saw the challenge worthy of a three-game ban.

In Grand Final week and with Waerea-Hargreaves retiring at the end of the season, KR appealed the call and successfully proved that there was no evidence of the prop causing the injury to Bennison.

That is something that Moore and Smith agreed upon at the time and repeated during the appeal process, insisting there was not a swinging arm to the neck, and there was no contact with the head, despite the opinion of the Match Review Panel.

KR’s legal representative also questioned the need for the MRP to overrule initial referee decisions, suggesting that it could bring the game into disrepute and showcases that the governing body does not trust its match officials.

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Ultimately, Waerea-Hargreaves and Hull KR won the case, allowing him to play this weekend, with the following summary given: “The Chair led a detailed review of the incident involving JWH’s tackle on Jon Bennison, with input from Match Officials, the Compliance Manager for the Match Review Panel, and arguments from the club, ultimately concluding that the tackle did not constitute forceful or dangerous head contact and did not merit further action.

“He explained that the hearing focused on JWH’s involvement in a tackle on Jon Bennison, which resulted in Bennison appearing concussed and failing a head injury assessment. Both Match Officials attended the hearing, confirmed their original view that the contact was minimal, and repeated their assessment that the incident did not constitute foul play.

“The Compliance Manager explained that the Match Review Panel took a different view from the Match Officials, motivated by the fact that Bennison was clearly concussed and failed his head injury assessment, leading them to conclude the contact was forceful and dangerous, warranting a Grade C charge.

“The club argued, relying on the Match Officials’ views, that the contact was minimal and not forceful or dangerous, emphasizing that both JWH and Bennison were going down during the tackle and that JWH described his actions as a “stacking tackle” with feet on the ground and no launching motion.

“The Chair noted that while Bennison failed the head injury assessment, there was also evidence of heavier contact minutes earlier involving Bennison and three other players, making it unclear whether JWH’s tackle directly caused the head injury, especially in the absence of medical evidence.

“He concluded that the evidence overwhelmingly supported the Match Officials’ view of minimal force and significant mitigation, with no aggravating factors, and that it was not proven to their satisfaction that any offence occurred, so no further action was warranted.”