Leeds Rhinos will appeal the one-match suspension given to Rhyse Martin. The Rhinos will take their appeal to a Rugby Football League tribunal on Tuesday evening, in a bid to free Martin to be available for the opening round of the Super League play-offs this weekend.
The Rhinos are set to travel to Perpignan to face Catalans on Friday without one of their most important players, after Martin was given the ban on Monday. He was charged with a Grade A high tackle on Castleford's Alex Mellor during Leeds' dramatic victory over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon.
However, Martin intends to plead not guilty to the charge in question at an appeal on Tuesday evening. If successful, he should be cleared to feature in Perpignan for a game Leeds must win to keep their Super League title hopes alive.
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The Rhinos tweeted on Tuesday morning: "Leeds Rhinos will appeal the one game suspension handed down to Rhyse Martin for a Grade A High Tackle in Saturday’s win over Castleford Tigers. Martin will plead not guilty to the charge and will appear before the RFL Disciplinary tonight."
Of course, Leeds are no strangers to running the risk of an appeal backfiring. Earlier this year, they were unsuccessful in challenging a two-match ban given to centre Harry Newman - leading to Newman actually receiving another match on top of that suspension.
That caused huge backlash and frustration among Rhinos supporters, and they will hope to avoid a similar experience on Tuesday evening. Martin's appeal is expected to be heard around 5:30pm.
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