The Super League disciplinary news will arrive later today, and there are plenty of players who face a nervous wait to find out their fate.
With the new system in place, players will now see their points from the last 12 months reduced by 75%, as opposed to 50%, meaning that the stars spend more time on the field as opposed to the sidelines.
However, the charging format remains the same, so there is a possibility that a number of penalties handed out, especially given how many players will be awaiting their verdict.
Hull KR and Wakefield Trinity suffered shock defeats over the weekend, whilst a strong second-half from Wigan Warriors saw them emerge victorious over Castleford Tigers.
Leigh Leopards and Warrington Wolves were also victorious, whilst Hull FC and Catalans Dragons complete the winners circle for round one.
Who will be sweating the Super League disciplinary verdict?
The obvious one here is Rovers star Mikey Lewis, who saw yellow for a trip on York’s Liam Harris. Robins boss Willie Peters was left fuming with his playmaker, saying post-match that Lewis let his side down for his needless actions.
With the World Club Challenge only days away, all eyes will be on the verdict to see what charge he receives, if any at all.
From the same game, York new boy Xavier Va’a will be patiently awaiting his fate, after he misread the play on Sauaso Sue’s try, and attempted to tackle Elliot Minchella without the ball.
From Friday night’s action, tensions boiled over between Harry Newman and Tesi Niu, and albeit accidental, Niu caught Newman with an elbow, and that could land him in bother. Both Newman and Matt Davis were also sent to the sin bin for running in and causing 26-man melee, but given that no punches looked to have been thrown, they should get off scot-free.
Jackson Hastings was also sent for 10 minutes, following a late hit on young Wolves full-back Cai Taylor-Wray. The new recruit looked shocked to be shown the yellow card, but replays showed he was clearly late and had time to pull out of the tackle.
On Saturday, Bradford Bulls returned to Super League, but despite a valiant effort, they couldn’t overcome the Black and Whites. To make things worse, Ryan Sutton will be eagerly anticipating the disciplinary, after he also put on a late shot on Callum Kemp.
For the opposition, Aidan Sezer caught Joe Mellor high in the second half, an incident that Bulls boss Kurt Haggerty believes was worthy of a yellow card. On-field referee Marcus Griffiths deemed a penalty was sufficient, but Sezer and FC will have to wait to see if the Match Review Panel agree with the official.
Max Jowitt was penalised for a shoulder charge on Benjamin Laguerre in Trinity’s defeat to Toulouse. Video referee Tom Grant believed that the full-back made no attempt to wrap his arm around the player – a decision Daryl Powell labelled “nonsense.”
Joe Cator and Jazz Tevaga were involved in an altercation, and as the two came together, there were open-handed pushes and a slap from Tevaga that could see him charged on what was his Super League debut.
Tyler Dupree also caught Cam Scott high, but the hit was missed by on-field referee James Vella. Scott went down, and was shown a green card somewhat controversially, as Toulouse managed to score whilst the centre was off the pitch.
Finally, Sunday’s game saw Adam Keighran shown a yellow card for a late hit on Daejarn Asi. The Wigan centre is one of two Warriors players sweating this week, with Brad O’Neill the other. He took Tom Weaver off the ball, which then led to a scuffle between the two, though again, no punches looked to have been thrown. O’Neill has only just come back from the suspension he picked up in the Super League Grand Final.
