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Rugby league disciplinary as ex-Hull FC pair among 5 sent to tribunal

Ex-Hull FC man connor wynne

The first major rugby league disciplinary review of 2025 has seen a whopping five players sent to tribunal for their actions.

There have been a handful of friendlies as well as two rounds of the Challenge Cup played so far in January and that has seen a total of 12 players handed charges.

Five of those players have been referred to a tribunal which is usually reserved for only the highest and most severe punishments with all five men landing Grade E charges.

The rugby league disciplinary system has had a shake-up this year with an accumulative points-based system introduced. Rather than bans for each incident, each charge warrants a certain amount of points with players then serving bans once they reach certain thresholds.

Whilst the RFL have confirmed that they will look at amending facets of that system, it is still expected to be utilised so just one of the 12 players has received a ban given the lack of accumulation for most charges, and the fact five are headed to tribunal.

The one player to be banned by the Match Review Panel is Mark Ioane of Keighley Cougars who has been handed a two-game ban after a Grade D charge of Dangerous Contact.

Rugby League Disciplinary: Two ex-Hull FC players referred to tribunal

Of the five players who are heading to tribunal, the case of two players has been reported on before with Featherstone’s Connor Wynne sent off in a friendly game almost a fortnight ago after punching Goole’s Jeylan Hodgson.

It was alleged that Hodgson had bitten Wynne and now both men have been handed Grade E charges for biting and punching respectively.

Other Grade E charges go to Josh Thompson of York Acorn for ‘Other Contrary Behaviour, Oliver Metcalfe of Maryport for ‘Punching’ and Jordan Rice of Mirfield for ‘Questioning the integrity of a Match Official’.

A full list of all 12 charges can be found below but it should be noted that the new points system is still under review.

Match Review Panel findings

Connor Wynne (Featherstone Rovers) – Grade E Punching – Refer to Tribunal
Jeylen Hodgson (Goole Vikings) – Grade E Biting – Refer to Tribunal
Josh Thompson (York Acorn) – Grade E Other Contrary Behaviour – Refer to Tribunal
Oliver Metcalfe (Maryport) – Grade E Punching – Refer to Tribunal
Jordan Rice (Mirfield) – Grade E Questioning the integrity of a Match Official – Refer to Tribunal
Mark Ioane (Keighley Cougars) – Grade D Dangerous Contact – 2 Match Suspension
Craig Foster (Maryport) – Grade C Aggressive body language towards a Match Official – £40 Fine
Scott Carberry (Haresfinch) – Grade C Foul language towards a Match Official – £40 Fine
Matty Norton (Haresfinch) – Grade C Head Contact – £40 Fine
Lachlan Holmes (Dewsbury Moor) – Grade B Dangerous Contact – £40 Fine
Jo McConell (Longhorns) – Grade C Trip – £40 Fine
Robbie Valentine (Ince Rose Bridge) – Grade C Striking – £40 Fine

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. John Dalton

    January 27, 2025 at 6:08 pm

    When will these “players ” learn that without a referee, they will have no match & therefore no sport. Referees are not the easiest to recruit at the best of times, who would do this thankless job for peanuts return, and then take all the abuse that they receive.
    This is the sort of offence that should carry the same length of sentence as drug related suspensions. We do NOT need any of this, ever.

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