Super League Disciplinary: Wigan Warriors star facing 3-5 game ban

The Match Review Panel have revealed the Super League disciplinary charges from Rivals Round and that has seen a total of seven players charged.

Among those seven charges are five bans with a further player set to head to tribunal for a Grade E offence which carries a possible ban of three to five games.

It was understandably an intense round given the number of derby games being played and it is from that Good Friday clash between St Helens and Wigan Warriors that the Grade E charge comes.

The man in question is Irish international Liam Byrne with the prop forward sent off around the 60th minute for his tackle on Mark Percival which was deemed as direct contact to the head.

Referee Chris Kendall was caught on Sky Sports’ coverage explaining to Byrne why the card was red and not yellow, the official stated: “It’s direct contact to the head and there are no mitigating circumstances.”

It was a major turning point in the game with Wigan leading 4-2 at that point before going on to lose 12-4 with Saints scoring two late tries to end Wigan’s unbeaten run in Super League.

The Match Review Panel have now had their say on the matter as those in charge of Super League disciplinary matters and the incident has been deemed a Grade E charge, meaning Byrne will head to face the Operational Rules Tribunal tomorrow night to learn his fate.

Super League Disciplinary: How long could Liam Byrne be banned for?

It could be argued that Byrne and Wigan Warriors have already been punished somewhat in the sense that they played a man down for 20 minutes and subsequently lost the game, however, the punishment isn’t set to end there.

A Grade E offence carries a punishment of three to five matches and a fine meaning that if found guilty the Irish international will miss games against Leigh Leopards and Castleford Tigers who Wigan face back-to-back in the Challenge Cup and Super League.

Should he receive the higher end of the charge then he could also possibly miss games against Hull KR and Catalans Dragons too meaning his return game would be in early May against Huddersfield Giants.

The RFL have released the minutes of Byrne’s verdict which simply reveal the incident heads to face the ORT due to making head contact, something that the RFL have been trying to minimise this season and have cleaned up on a lot.

Whilst Percival did appear to lean and dip into contact, Chris Kendall’s statement that there were “no mitigating factors” could likely play a huge role in how severe the Operational Rules Tribunal are in their punishment of Byrne.

His Wigan teammate Tyler Dupree has also landed a ban for making head contact in the game although it is just a one-game ban, whilst St Helens’ Matty Lees has been hit with a two-game ban for the same offence.