Leeds Rhinos boss Rohan Smith expects changes to be made to the disciplinary system at the end of the season after arguing punishments have been “too harsh for too little.”
He was speaking after Rhinos second-row Rhyse Martin saw his one-game ban for a high tackle increased to two games due to a “frivolous” appeal. The Papua New Guinea captain will miss Friday’s sudden death play-off at Catalans Dragons and, if Leeds win, their Super League semi-final. There has been widespread condemnation of the tribunal’s decision giving referee Ben Thaler did not even deem the incident - a glancing touch of the nose of Castleford’s Alex Mellor - as a penalty. And the video official took no action either.
Even Mellor himself took to Twitter to last night to declare he didn’t feel the challenge was even a penalty and it is the latest controversy in a season that has been dogged by disbelief at some of the disciplinary decisions. Smith, who says centre Harry Newman has a “chance” of playing in Perpignan after his surprise inclusion in the 21-man squad following injury, offered: “The charge itself, I’m not really sure if that’s the type of tackle which is actually an issue in our game.
