St Helens winger Tommy Makinson has opportunity to escape ban due to RFL loophole

St Helens winger Tommy Makinson and Castleford Tigers forward Liam Horne were both handed one-match bans by the RFL Match Review Panel yesterday.

They were the only two players to be given red cards in Round Eleven of Super League.

Makinson was sent off for a shoulder-to-the-head of Tex Hoy early in Saints’ comprehensive victory over Castleford Tigers.

He was handed a Grade C Head Contact charge by the panel, meaning he must sit out of a game.

The other Grade C Head Contact charge given out this week was to Liam Byrne of Wigan Warriors, who was yellow-carded in the first minute of their win over Huddersfield Giants.

He will, however, miss two games, as he’s at the higher end of the sanction grade due to his previous indiscretions.

Horne’s dismissal was for a dangerous tackle, which referee Jack Smith said put the opponent in a “really, really dangerous position”.

He will miss one game due to a Grade C Dangerous Throw/Lift charge.

The loophole which could see St Helens and Castleford men escape bans

There are no Super League fixtures this weekend, with the Challenge Cup semi-finals instead scheduled this weekend.

Playing in those fixtures are Wigan Warriors, Hull KR, Huddersfield Giants and Warrington Wolves.

Castleford and St Helens are not involved, as they both lost in the quarter-finals.

That means they get a week off, but before their next Super League fixtures, there’s a round of reserves’ fixtures as usual.

The two sides’ reserve teams are facing each other at the weekend, meaning the game can be used to both sides’ advantage.

First-team players can use reserve games to count towards their suspensions if the first-team are not in action, and it’s likely to be the case this weekend.

Both sides have previous using the loophole.

One of the most notable uses was Wigan using it to allow Bevan French, Harvie Hill and Kaide Ellis to star in their playoff semi-final last year, due to their reserves’ Grand Final against St Helens.

A trio of Castleford players also benefitted from the rule during an international break last year, with Kenny Edwards, Liam Watts and Bureta Faraimo managing to escape bans.

An example of St Helens using the rule was for morgan Knowles, cutting his ban down to four games for a hip drop tackle against the Warriors.

Therefore, it’s likely that Makinson will be lining up against Leeds Rhinos in just over a week’s time, and Castleford, in their important fixture against Hull FC, will surely be lining up with Horne in the ranks.