Jordan Brown of Swinton Lions will miss the first eight games of the 2027 season after the Rugby Football League confirmed the biggest ban of the 2026 campaign.
Brown has been hit with a monster eight-match ban for his role in the brawl that erupted late on in Swinton’s September defeat against London Broncos.
The two teams were playing after the regular season of the Championship had ended for every other side, and London used their play-off bye to match up against the Lions in order to avoid a tight turnaround for their earlier 1895 Cup Final.
As such, this marked the final game of the Championship regular season and it looked like being a normal game until a brawl unexpectedly began in the 78th minute that led to red cards for Brown and London’s Will Jones.
Whilst the game ended 66-18 to the Broncos, the disciplinary aftermath soon started though it’s taken a month to officially confirm Brown’s ban.
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Swinton Lions man cops huge eight-match ban
A Match Review Panel at the time initially gave Brown a three-match ban for a Grade E charge of punching, whilst Jones was handed a Grade F charge and set to appear at a disciplinary tribunal – though it’s not clear if that has happened yet.
Moreover, Brown then had his charge upgraded to F and that’s seen him appear at a tribunal this week which his punishment massively increased to eight matches.
It’s the largest ban that the Rugby Football League have handed out this season and it mean that he will miss around a quarter of the 2027 season. RFL rules state that up to two matches can be served in pre-season games, meaning if the Lions play two pre-season friendlies then Brown will only miss six games of the regular season.
With nothing confirmed yet for what the 2027 Championship looks like or how the 1895 and Challenge Cup will work, it’s unclear what games Brown will miss.
As well as the Swinton man appearing at the Operational Rules Tribunal earlier this week, Huddersfield’s Maddie Hutchinson successfully appealed and overturned her Grade F charge for biting and using offensive or obscene language. As such, she receives no punishment.
