Leeds Rhinos head coach Rohan Smith today admitted Morgan Knowles’ successful appeal came as no surprise after the St Helens forward was controversially freed to play in Saturday’s Super League Grand Final. The 25-year-old England forward lost his initial appeal against a two-match ban for “dangerous contact” following an incident with Salford's Chris Atkin in last Saturday’s play-off semi-final victory, after which he was sin-binned by referee Chris Kendall.
But Saints launched a second appeal on Wednesday which proved successful, provoking an angry response by many Leeds supporters and disbelief in some quarters. The defending champions claimed the original conclusion by a Rugby Football League tribunal was “unreasonable” based on the evidence presented.
Asked whether he was surprised about Knowles’ successful appeal, Smith said diplomatically: “No, nothing would surprise as far as that process goes. We planned as if Knowles was going to play and I didn’t really have a major reaction to it. I thought there was every chance the decision could go either way, so it’s probably good for the game and good for the World Cup.
