Round Seven of the Super League brought some surprises and intense clashes, and within all the action, there was Super League disciplinary drama once again.
The drama has been far less in recent weeks compared to the first two rounds of the season.
However, in Round Six, we saw six players given match notices, up from just one in Round Five.
Perhaps most notably, Wigan Warriors prop Liam Byrne was handed a four-match suspension following his tribunal for a Grade E Head Contact charge, and St Helens prop Matty Lees was given a two-match ban for a lesser, Grace C Head Contact charge.
Onto Round Seven and once again there were several cards shown which has created causes for concern on the Super League disciplinary front. Among those was Hull FC’s Ligi Sao who was given two yellow cards in the second half of their game against Huddersfield Giants.
Meanwhile, his team-mate Jack Brown was given a yellow for a dangerous tackle.
Elsewhere, Hull KR, Leigh and Salford players were sent to the sin-bin.
The Robins’ Sam Luckley was carded for a dangerous tackle in their win, while Leigh’s Matt Moylan could hamper their already small squad, after his high tackle on Wigan’s Jai Field.
Leigh are currently the joint most-carded side in Super League this season.
Finally, Amir Bourouh was given a yellow card for a dangerous lift in Salford’s loss to Castleford Tigers.
The RFL’s Match Review Panel have now made their decisions, and each of them can be read below.
Super League Disciplinary Round Seven: Who has been banned?
Credit: Imago Images
The Match Review Panel have now met and released their findings with a total of eight players charged and four of those being handed bans.
Among the bans are the two Hull FC men who saw yellow with both Jack Brown and Ligi Sao banned for one game, Brown for a dangerous throw and Sao for dangerous contact, with both offences warranting a Grade B charge.
Both those Grade B charges are at the higher end of the charge which is why they warrant bans as opposed to just fines.
On the other side of Hull, there’s bad news too with Sam Luckley handed a Grade C charge for the dangerous throw that saw him sin-binned against London Broncos.
Luckley’s Grade C has only landed him a one-game ban but that does mean he’ll miss the Challenge Cup clash against Leigh this weekend in the game that’s a rematch of last year’s final.
The final ban goes to another man who was sin-binned in Salford’s Amir Bourouh for his dangerous throw, once again a Grade B but at the higher end meaning that it’s a ban and not a fine.
That means Leigh’s Matt Moylan got away without further punishment for his sin bin offence on Thursday night, the Match Review Panel potentially accounting for the mitigating factor of Jai Field dipping low.
There was a charge from that game with Abbas Miski receiving a fine for dangerous contact which Ben Currie was also handed.
Both Liam Sutcliffe and Elie El-Zakhem were handed £250 fines for their Grade B head contact charges.
Round Seven Bans and Charges
Abbas Miski (Wigan Warriors) – Dangerous Contact – Grade B -£250 Fine
Sam Luckley (Hull KR) – Dangerous Throw – Grade C – 1 Match Penalty Notice
Ben Currie (Warrington Wolves) – Dangerous Contact – Grade B – £250 Fine
Ligi Sao (Hull FC) – Dangerous Contact – Grade B – 1 Match Penalty Notice (Higher end of the Charge Grade)
Jack Brown (Hull FC) – Dangerous Throw – Grade B – 1 Match Penalty Notice (Higher end of the Charge Grade)
Liam Sutcliffe (Hull FC) – Head Contact – Grade B – £250 Fine
Elie El-Zakhem (Castleford Tigers) – Head Contact – Grade B – £250 Fine
Amir Bourouh (Salford Red Devils ) – Dangerous Throw – Grade B – 1 Match Penalty Notice (Higher end of the Charge Grade)
Warrington Wolves
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