Disciplinary news: blow for Hull KR as star banned for Super League Grand Final
Hull KR today suffered a huge blow ahead of Saturday’s Grand Final against Wigan Warriors when one of their stars was handed a three-match ban.
Jared Waera-Hargraves is set to miss the Betfred Super League showpiece at Old Trafford after the RFL’s match review panel charged him with grade C head contact in last Saturday’s semi-final win against St Helens. The veteran prop was handed eight penalty points, taking his total over the past 12 months to 19.
The charge followed an alleged high tackle on Jon Bennison in the first half. The Saints man failed a head injury assessment and missed the rest of the tie, though the incident was not penalised by referee Liam Moore.
If Waera-Hargraves decides to challenge the suspension a disciplinary hearing will be held tomorrow (Tuesday). An unsuccessful appeal would result in an extra match being added to the ban, but Waera-Hargraves effectively has nothing to lose, having already announced he will retire at the end of this season.
His Hull KR teammate Sam Luckley was charged with grade A late contact on a passer in the same game. The penalty point doubled his tally to two and he faces no further action. Suspensions begin when a player reaches six points.
Saints’ Matty Lees (grade A trip, one penalty point taking his tally to 2.5) and Jonny Lomas (grade A late contact on passer, one penalty point, total points two) also avoided further sanction.
Leigh Leopards’ Edwin Ipape was banned for one match after being charged with grade A late contact on a passer in last Friday’s semi-final loss at Wigan Warriors. He received one penalty point, taking his tally to 6.5. He will be able to serve the suspension in pre-season.
No further action will be taken after Wakefield Trinity’s Mason Lino accused Leigh half-back Lachlan Lam of using unacceptable language in a play-off two weeks ago. The on-field complaint was included in the referee’s post-match report and considered by the review panel last week.
An RFL statement said: “They were unable to take the matter further because of the lack of supporting evidence, therefore referred it to RFL compliance for further investigation, given the serious nature of the allegation. However, there has been no response to the RFL request for further information necessary to take the matter further - the deadline for which passed on Wednesday, October 1.”