Warrington Wolves forward Paul Vaughan has learned his fate after copping a controversial red card against Leigh Leopards on Friday night when they lost 16-12.
The Australian prop was sent off for making contact to the head with Leigh’s Frankie Halton as Halton carried the ball out from the kick-off following Leigh’s opening try.
It meant that Warrington were forced to play the majority of the game with just twelve men, something that Sam Burgess raged about in his post-match interview on Sky Sports.
Burgess applauded his team as he declared that they had won 12-10 after the sending off, whilst he was also highly critical of the red card decision.
“It was embarrassing”, Burgess declared.
“It has become a theatrical game. Numerous players were telling players to stay down when we were about to play on. Is it really a red card? Were there mitigating factors? I believe so. I would have said yellow. It was such a big call because it had such an influence on the result.”
The Match Review Panel have now had their say on the incident.
Warrington Wolves forward handed three-game ban
Credit: SWpix
There was clearly a lack of mitigating factors regarding Vaughan’s red card in the eyes of the Match Review Panel as the Warrington Wolves’ forward has been handed a three-game ban.
Vaughan was handed a Grade D charge of ‘Head Contact’, earning him a three-match ban and a fine of £250. The punishment comes in on the higher end of the grading scale.
It also means that Vaughan will be unavailable for the remainder of Warrington’s regular season games meaning Sam Burgess will be without the prop for clashes against St Helens, Huddersfield Giants and London Broncos.
He will be back in time for the play-offs with it looking more likely that Warrington will miss out on the top two and therefore not earn a bye round with the Wolves expected to finish third and play Super League’s sixth-placed team at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Vaughan was one of six players banned by the Match Review Panel this week with a total of 10 players charged across Super League.
