Egg Chasing wrote:
Or look at it another way.
Wigan beat Leeds, Bateman is banned for 3 games.
Wigan appeal and he is still banned for 3 games BUT the minutes say something like, it was a bad tackle with no regard for player safety but the game is fast paced and players sometimes end up making tackles they didn't intend to make.
Wigan appeal again and he gets off because the wording says he didn't intend to do it meaning it was an accident rather than a bad tackle with no regard for player safety.
Would that be ok?
No that wouldn't be OK because not intending to knock someone out with your shoulder doesn't mean you don't get banned for doing it. The real comparison would be Knowles did actually break the guys arm with force by moving it much further than he did but said he didn't mean it. They'd both still be banned for doing something with an unacceptable risk of causing injury whether they meant it or not. If they meant it the ban would be longer.
I expected Knowles to get a ban given where the disciplinary are at this year and nobobdy would really have complained. It was just so stupid and didn't look great. But it wasn't some heinous action - he grabs a wrist in a tackle to slow a PTB and does it in a way that wasn't clever. He got penalised and a yellow card for it. I think the Salford player play acted (not the first or last in that game, see trying to get Roby in trouble for a non-existent crusher) which made it look worse.
My view is take out the nonsensical Salford player reaction and take it on its merits - as someone else said maybe reposition it as a Toulouse player in a nothing game - people would just say yeah that was daft he deserved a yellow. Maybe 1 match ban. I think the profile of the player and following game is the difference here - there are people desperate to see a player banned for a pretty minor wrist grab professional foul even though most people are also saying he didn't mean to hurt the player (and probably didn't despite the play acting).
So he's trying to slow a PTB (a professional foul) not trying to hurt a player, doesn't move his arm into a dangerous position, it's acknowledged there is no unacceptable risk of injury. But he should be banned for two matches on top of a yellow card?
I struggle with it.
Anyway it's done now, bring on the match.
