Paul Wellens questions why John Asiata case is different to Morgan Knowles ban

After Leigh Leopards defeated St Helens in the Challenge Cup semi-final at Warrington Wolves’ Halliwell Jones John Asiata became a key talking point.

Ironically he had been the centre of attention for very different reasons going into the game as a saga brewed over potential NRL interest.

Now the focus is on his tackles which injured four St Helens players and were branded as “incredibly dangerous” by Jon Wilkin.

Now, medical scans have sadly revealed that prop forwards Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi will unfortunately miss out the rest of the 2023 Betfred Super League season.

Both Saints players suffered injuries in the Betfred Challenge Cup Semi-Final loss to Leigh Leopards last Saturday afternoon, with Paasi needing assistance to come off the field.

Head Coach Paul Wellens referenced Paasi in his post-match conference, saying that his knee had been “blown to smithereens” and it has now been confirmed that unfortunately Agnatius is likely to miss at least nine months of action with ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), MCL (medial collateral ligament), and ankle ligament injuries.

Alex Walmsley has sadly injured his MCL which will end his 2023 season and requires surgery which has happened today.

Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Morgan Knowles also suffered knocks following tackles made in the Semi-Final fixture, with McCarthy-Scarsbrook expected to miss at least two weeks, whilst Knowles could feature in our upcoming Super League game this week if he passes his fitness checks and is declared fit to play.

Saints will now take on Leeds Rhinos in a Grand Final rematch knowing that Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi will be absent.

As will Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook who is out for two weeks.

Meanwhile, Morgan Knowles stands a 50/50 chance of being fit for the fixture.

Mata’utia will miss the game through suspension after he picked up a two match ban.

Speaking on BBC Radio Merseyside, Paul Wellens has questioned why the medical reports Saints sent weren’t consulted as they were in the case of Morgan Knowles when he received a long term ban for causing an ACL injury on Wigan Warriors star Mike Cooper.

“The RFL before the Match Review Panel met were provided with detailed medical reports from our medical staff.

“”hen I spoke to the panel they, by 18:30 on Monday and after the decision not to ban John Asiata, they had still not seen those scan reports.

“What I want to ask is why because that is a very different procedure to what Morgan Knowles was subjected to when he was in a similar scenario when Mike Cooper suffered an ACL injury.”

The likely reason behind this is that Knowles was deemed to have committed foul play unlike Asiata.