Hull KR successfully challenged a three-match ban handed out to prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves after both referees involved in the Robins’ win over St Helens insisted his challenge ‘did not constitute foul play’.
Waerea-Hargreaves was in danger of missing this weekend’s Super League Grand Final – the final game of his stellar career – after being given the ban for a tackle on Bennison during the game on Saturday evening. Bennison subsequently left the field and failed a HIA after play was stopped.
But Rovers were determined to free up the prop to feature against Wigan on Saturday and, armed with their own legal representation, attended a hearing on Tuesday – which they won.
Their arguments for the successful claim based around two key factors. One was a further admission from the referee and video referee that were involved on Saturday night also attending the hearing and insisting they still believed the contact was ‘minimal’. Rovers insisted that the Match Review Panel were attempting to overrule two experience referees.
However, more crucially, Rovers were able to convince the tribunal that there was significant evidence of earlier tackles on Bennison in the minutes prior to his departure on the field that could have caused him to subsequently fail a concussion, given symptoms can delayed in onset.
No medical evidence was produced proving that the Bennison concussion was caused by Waerea-Hargreaves’ tackle and in the notes, it states: “No evidence has been provided from the club or the player. Both would have been simple and straightforward to produce.”
That led the tribunal to agree with Rovers that Waerea-Hargreaves should not be charged over the incident, upholding his original not guilty plea.
They said: “The Chair led a detailed review of the incident involving JWH’s tackle on John (sic) Bennison, with input from Match Officials, the Compliance Manager for the Match Review Panel, and arguments from the club, ultimately concluding that the tackle did not constitute forceful or dangerous head contact and did not merit further action.
“He explained that the hearing focused on JWH’s involvement in a tackle on John (sic) Bennison, which resulted in Bennison appearing concussed and failing a head injury assessment. Both Match Officials attended the hearing, confirmed their original view that the contact was minimal, and repeated their assessment that the incident did not constitute foul play.
“The Compliance Manager explained that the Match Review Panel took a different view from the Match Officials, motivated by the fact that Bennison was clearly concussed and failed his head injury assessment, leading them to conclude the contact was forceful and dangerous, warranting a Grade C charge.
“The club argued, relying on the Match Officials’ views, that the contact was minimal and not forceful or dangerous, emphasizing that both JWH and Bennison were going down during the tackle and that JWH described his actions as a “stacking tackle” with feet on the ground and no launching motion.
“The Chair noted that while Bennison failed the head injury assessment, there was also evidence of heavier contact minutes earlier involving Bennison and three other players, making it unclear whether JWH’s tackle directly caused the head injury, especially in the absence of medical evidence.
“He concluded that the evidence overwhelmingly supported the Match Officials’ view of minimal force and significant mitigation, with no aggravating factors, and that it was not proven to their satisfaction that any offence occurred, so no further action was warranted.”
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