The RFL have confirmed why York Knights half-back Cody Hunter escaped a ban, despite performing a hip drop tackle on Huddersfield Giants’ Asher O’Donnell
Hunter, who produced a Player of the Match display in the opening game of Magic Weekend, could have had a very different afternoon had the incident been caught by the on-field officials.
However, despite O’Donnell not returning for the full game, the Australian played the full 80 and was arguably the reason why York emerged as victors at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The Match Review Panel caught the incident, and Hunter was handed a Grade C charge for Dangerous Contact. That warranted five penalty points, however with that being his first charge of the season, he escaped a ban and was handed just a fine.
But there was some uncertainty over why Hunter only received five points, and not eight. Usually, an incident that causes injury to an opponent is worth an extra three penalty points, as seen with Sam Powell’s charge. A Grade E is only worth 18 penalty points, but injury to Tesi Niu means that he was given a total of 21 points.
Huddersfield activated their 18th man in the game due to foul play, but the extra points haven’t been added, luckily for Hunter and York.
The RFL have now confirmed to Serious About Rugby League why that is the case: Huddersfield’s medical staff did not confirm to the governing body that the player (O’Donnell) was removed from the game due to an incident that was later charged as on-field misconduct.
Had the three extra points been awarded, Hunter would be forced to sit out this week’s clash with Hull FC due to a one-match suspension.
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