St Helens man can have “no argument” after first-minute sin bin

St Helens are visiting Super League leaders Wigan Warriors tonight in a game that has seen both sides plagued by injury, however, Saints are now even more handicapped after having a man sent to the sin bin within one minute.

Wigan’s Kaide Ellis took his time to get up after a tackle whilst holding his nose and mouth. That delay seemed to prompt the video referee to take a look and saw referee Liam Moore encouraged to deal with the incident.

It was widely expected that tackler Matty Lees would get a slap on the wrist and Wigan be handed a new set of six but incredibly Liam Moore informed Lees that he would be marched off the field and sent for ten minutes in the sin bin due to a high shot.

At the time of Moore’s decision, the clock read just 58 seconds, however, given the huge delay that occurred due to Kaide Ellis remaining on the floor prior to Liam Moore calling time on the clock, the offence actually came far earlier.

It’s an incredible way to kick off the 93rd derby of the summer era, St Helens leading the way with 48 wins thus far, but the odds are now even more stacked against them.

What was more surprising amidst the controversy was the suggestion from former St Helens forward Kyle Amor that Matty Lees could have “no argument” over the yellow card.

Co-commentating on Sky Sports alongside Dave Woods, Amor explained: “No argument there. Liam Moore has nailed it, there’s mitigation but he is high so that’s spot on.”

Six minutes of that sin bin period have elapsed with St Helens managing to hold on despite Wigan forcing a goal-line drop-out early on.

St Helens drop Lewis Dodd for Wigan Warriors clash

It was a game that was previewed with very different squads to normal given the number of injuries and bans for each side, however, the most notable decision when the matchday squads were announced was the call to drop Lewis Dodd.

Paul Wellens made the brave call to drop the NRL-bound playmaker and instead move Jack Welsby into the halves allowing young Harry Robertson to debut at full-back.

There was a welcome return for Daryl Clark at hooker though after Moses Mbye failed to successfully;u appeal his ban on two occasions. As for Wigan Warriors, without all three of their hookers including Brad O’Neill due to suspension, they named Luke Thompson at hooker.

However, Matt Peet informed Sky Sports that they would actually be playing Liam Farrell in the role with Jack Farrimond operating there in attack at times as well.

The scores are currently 0-0 after 15 minutes with Matty Lees back on the field after his sin bin.