Super League Disciplinary: Wigan Warriors star given hefty ban

The Super League Disciplinary saga goes on. The Match Review Panel yesterday announced seven disciplinary charges following Rivals Round, which included five bans and set up Wigan Warriors star Liam Byrne for tribunal.

Byrne will faced the tribunal for a Grade E offence that could lead to a ban of between three to five games if found guilty of the charge.

The matches during Rivals Round were quite heated, with many derby games being played. The Grade E charge came from the Good Friday match between St Helens and Wigan Warriors.

Irish international Liam Byrne was sent off in the 60th minute for his tackle on Mark Percival, which was considered direct contact with the head.

Referee Chris Kendall explained to Byrne that the card was red and not yellow due to direct contact to the head without mitigating circumstances as could be heard on Sky Sports. This incident was crucial in the game as Wigan were leading 4-2 when the incident occurred but went on to lose 12-4, ending their unbeaten run in Super League. Wigan were arguably already punished enough because of this.

That being said, tonight’s Operational Rules Tribunal was set to decide Byrne’s fate.

Super League Disciplinary: Wigan Warriors star learns his fate

In the first of a number of cases scheduled for the independent Operational Rules Tribunal on April 2, the Wigan Warriors forward Liam Byrne pleaded guilty to a Grade E Head Contact charge for which he was dismissed in the Betfred Super League fixture at St Helens on Good Friday. Byrne has been suspended for four matches, and fined £750.

This means that Byrne will of course miss Wigan’s next derby which sees the Warriors take on Leigh Leopards this week hoping to get back to winning ways.

However, he will also miss three games after that and the do or die clash with Castleford Tigers in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

Wigan last failed to make the semi-finals in 2021. They won the competition defeating Huddersfield Giants in the 2022 final and in 2023 they lost to Hull KR in the semi-finals which was their last defeat until the loss against St Helens.