Well if Knowles and Welsby don't receive bans for the final then it's an absolute joke. The loss of those two and Walmsley - and I'd definitely be putting Leeds as favourites.

Didn't Saints get given a penalty try against Castleford a few weeks ago, for interference by O'brien? Or is my memory playing tricks?

What did welsby do.not that it matters he.ll be cleared to play in the final as will knowles

No chance Knowles will play after what he did, criminal if he does. Welsby’ tackle a few years ago was a belter but nowadays he should receive a ban as he made contact with the head. BMM got 2 games for a lot less and Bentley and others have received bans for less this season.

Knowles' ban overturned after 2nd appeal....

Speechless

That is absolutely shameful. It should’ve been increased to three as a frivolous appeal. I am flabbergasted. Leeds have been on the end of some dubious bans this season and they must be shaking their heads in disbelief.

Told ya..what gets me is what the hell on earth is different on the 2nd appeal from the 1st..I'd love to know

A bigger wedge of cash from the screaming skull perhaps?

Our game is a joke, refereeing is a joke and the disciplinary is a Shakespearean farce!

How to lose credibility and fans, well done rfl.

I'll stick to the NRL next year I reckon (apart from the Wire)

Supposedly the Salford player's arm wasn't put in an unnatural position....

In real time…..
Or on the video replay….
Or on the first appeal…..
Or on the second appeal….
?????

"Tonight’s tribunal accepted that while there was some twisting to apply pressure to the limb of an opposing player, this did not exceed the normal range of movement and therefore could not have posed an ‘unacceptable risk of injury"

...
From the RFL Twitter account

To stand out as the worst disciplinary decision of all time takes some doing but this managed it. Corruption, plain and simple.

Absolute joke, saints pull out the saints get out of jail free card again in the judiciary panel! That was as frivolous an appeal that there has ever been and the ban gets overturned! Wow. The incompetence is just astounding.

Whilst I was surprised they overturned it on a second appeal, the decision is clearly correct. Take the club element out of it and look objectively at the position the arm was put into. It wouldn't have hurt Atkin and there was no force involved. It's definitely a penalty and I agree with the yellow card as it stopped a quick play the ball near the line, but missing the Grand Final for that would be wrong. Saints were also able to demonstrate very similar if not worse incidents from this season that were also not banned.

It's also not the first time a player has been cleared to play in a Grand Final after being banned. Lee Smith for Leeds was cleared to play on appeal after being given a 4 game ban for kicking a player in the head. That maybe puts Knowles' (stupid but not dangerous) act into perspective?

I don't think any player has ever been banned from a Grand Final in Super League (I could be wrong).

Well at least you can't use the decimated squad excuse if Leeds turn you over.

How can you possibly know that? The arm was deliberately moved into an unnatural position; it wasn't an attempt to slow the ptb down, it was a nasty act that is totally against the spirit of the game.

No, that's scientifically wrong. That has been clarified during the hearing tonight and that being proven as a fact is what got Knowles off. The movement was proven to be within the natural range of motion of an arm and therefore is not chargeable as an offense as it could not be causing an unacceptable risk of injury. The ref is positioned to the left of Atkin as Knowles looks. He's hidden from the referee by Atkin's body, he's trying to hold him and prevent him playing the ball as the ref can't see him holding him, Atkin spins out of it to bring it to the referee's attention. If there had been ill intent from Knowles he could quite easily have yanked it to the right or pulled him down with force, but he didn't. Maybe he considered it, I can't prove he didn't, but he didn't actually carry it out. They've accepted that he should not have been charged in the first place.

Leeds may as well not turn up for the final, stains name is already engraved on trophy.

JOKE

Leeds have a great chance of winning the game. They battered Wigan last week.

I was actually going to post ‘even Saddened can’t defend this one’ I’m wrong again, is he a parody act? Laughable.

It was the intent. He only had one reason to do that move. Therefore, this sets a precedent - any attempt to harm a player that doesn’t come off should go unpunished as there was no injury.

I look forward to seeing what happens with player welfare next season, especially after the zealous interpretations this year. In usual RL fashion, what is a trend this year becomes obsolete the very next.

The game is a joke

Hopefully this incident and the process with the appeals will highlight the deficiencies in the system and be the driver for it all to be improved.

Imagine it was Warrington and you were hired to replace Karl Fitzpatrick. You can medically prove the arm wasn't outside the natural range of motion and you have video and MRP notes from previous incidents that were very similar this season that were judged to be 'no further action'. Would you appeal?

No matter how flimsy an argument I had, if I was a saints official I would appeal absolutely every ban that was received to any of our players, knowing that the disciplinary panel have an obvious reluctance to punish saints players in line with the way those of other clubs are treated. Going back to (and beyond) lineham getting a 7 match ban and makinson 3 for a squirrel grip when makinsons was blatant and caught by sky cameras and linehams wasn't.

Why wouldn't saints players try their luck with dangerous tackles? I wouldn't be surprised if eamon received a written apology for the issuing of a yellow card in this incident.

To be fair the world Cup and Knowles being an England player probably helped saints cause in this instance. It shouldn't have at all, but to uphold the 2 game ban, they have set a precedent that frivolous appeals result in a ban extension which would have meant that an England player would be unavailable for 2 World Cup games in this instance.

The disciplinary panel and procedure needs a total overhaul as well as the penalty try guidelines.