Why St Helens’ Matty Lees was banned with controversial sin bin verdict delivered

St Helens prop Matty Lees has been handed a one-match ban by the RFL’s Match Review Panel following Saturday’s clash with Warrington Wolves.

The forward was controversially shown a yellow card in the contest at the Halliwell Jones Stadium for a collision with Josh Drinkwater that seemed to cause outrage in the rugby league world. Lees appeared to bump into the back of Drinkwater after the ball had already gone, with action being taken by the match officials due to the pause in play that came while Drinkwater received treatment.

Drinkwater attracted criticism following the decision with the half-back being accused of ‘milking’ the challenge. The Match Review Panel looked at the incident today but came to the conclusion that the action wasn’t worthy of a suspension.

“Player is late but contact is minimal,” was the reasoning noted down in the Review Panel minutes, with the St Helens man being handed a ban for a different offence altogether.

With just two minutes on the clock at Warrington, a fired up  Lees could be seen rushing towards a coming together and colliding with Chris Kendall. The referee gave the forward a stern telling off on the field, but the Match Review Panel have deemed his actions in that moment worthy of punishment, with the forward handed a one-match penalty notice.

“Deliberate or reckless physical contact with a match official,” was the explanation given in the minutes, with a note to suggest the Grade B offence was at the higher end.

As such, Lees will miss Friday night’s game with Castleford Tigers at the Totally Wicked Stadium, which is a game Paul Wellens’ side cannot afford to lose. The ban will come as a huge blow for Wellens, who will also be without Moses Mbye following his one-match ban for a late contact on the passer.