When do we find out if Westwood is banned and for how long?

I can kind of see your point, but technically (in the actual rules), you cannot make contact with a player who does not have possession of the ball. There is no sort of 'time lapse' that says you have, for example, one second in which you are allowed to tackle the player after he has had possession. If a player doesn't have possession of the ball, you just cannot tackle him and stil be within the rules of the game.

As said I don't think Westwood was ridiculously late, but he was late. That would have justified a penalty. The problem he has got is that he made contact with the head, and this would be foul play whether Gale had the ball or not!
One match would fit with similar offences this season.

I'd say so and I think the officials should be stronger at the time and bin him, it was high enough to be a yellow. Westwood was silly to do what he did.

On the tackling; it's a bit of a grey area, you can't pull out of some tackles but as you say you can't hit a man who isn't in possession. In on the side of "if committed, let it go" as long as it's not high or from behind.

The trouble with that approach to tackling is that a late shot on a kicker, even if it is not high, is dangerous due to the fact he is generally stood one one leg and therefore potential for injury in high.

Completely agree re officials. For me, any penalty that endangers the safety of another player shoul be an immediate 10 minutes. This includes all contact with the head, every late tackle, pressure on the joints and illegal lifting.

If we did that Wigan would play the best part of every game with 11 men!
The RFL seem to highlight certain things at times. We've just had a run of players being charged with unnecessary pressure on the joint and a lot of head shots seem to have been let go.

I'll answer my own question, Russell to miss out this weekend. www.wirefm.com/news/local-sport/ ... -the-semi/

I'll answer my own question, Russell to miss out this weekend. www.wirefm.com/news/local-sport/ ... -the-semi/

Sounds fine to me. Small price to pay for improving player safety.

Other than listening to my good mate doing the play-by-play Wolves commentary, I don't listen to anything else on Wire FM.

In all honesty, apart from 5 Live and TalkSport, I don't listen to any radio music station. It's all internet radio for me.

Duckie's a taxi driver? Is he Padders in disguise?

2 game ban.

That is a big blow for Saturday with the amount of minutes he normally plays.

I thought the tackle was worth 1 match, but the committee may have taken into consideration that he has already had one suspension this season already and upped the suspension to 2 matches.

The worrying trend is that suspensions mean the committee have determined he committed an offence worth of a dismissal. With the amount of suspensions dished out, that's an awful lot of serious foul play being missed by the on-field officials.

I can tell you for certain, rubber duckie doesn't listen to Dire FM. It isn't even tuned in the radio.
If I listen to commentary, then I'll use BBC local radio.

Taxi for WF.

So misses the cup semi and Leeds away

Just seen Gale's decapitation, and Westwood's got away with murder. How he hasn't been sent to Devil's Island indefinitely, for such an act of blatant thuggery, I will never know.

FFS, what's going on? If that warrants a two game suspension, then we're fooked as a sport. It's a little late, no more, no less. Stand by for wholesale banings from now on, as the RFL and their refs are renowned for their consistency.

you might be right, however we didn't get a penalty as far as I recall, the scrum was put down for Carney going into touch.

totally agree player getting banned for late challenges and players getting banned for placing there hands on the ref(well some players do)..who was the ref in question for that particular hanging offence..just hope the ref on saturday shows some common sense,but i wont be holding my breath

Smith far from impressed at Powell's comments on Westwood's tackle. www.sportinglife.com/rugby-leagu ... ryl-powell I sense an appeal may follow - nothing to lose.

Smith far from impressed at Powell's comments on Westwood's tackle. www.sportinglife.com/rugby-leagu ... ryl-powell I sense an appeal may follow - nothing to lose.

I agree, like the late hit on O'Brien when he chipped in for Ratchford's try, no real difference between that and Westwood's but hey ho O'Brien didn't lie on the floor for five minutes like he'd been shot from the grassy knoll and Smith didn't obviously have a Powell type after match rant.

Had a right go at Powell there hasn't he

'...the kid has gone from almost standing upright to dipping down...'


This would be from the same coach who last year said, 'But when you decide to make a tackle and the ball carrier dips, for whatever the reason, the onus has always been on the defender. It's going to be interesting to see how defences go from here on in. They'll go to every judiciary disciplinary meeting and say, 'well the ball carrier was dipping.'

Hypocrite.

Must be the only lad from Cas to be able to spell hypocrite. Obviously been exiled for a while.

I would tend to side with Smith here and suggest that coaches shouldn't be making comments about incidents that are subject to disciplinary procedures. Let the system take it's course first.

We need to look wider than a specific incident. The number of suspensions for incidents that go unpunished is alarming - on field officials are missing far too much serious and dangerous foul play.

"We feel that Benny's chest was the thing that came into contact with Luke Gale's face".

Unfortunately, this is the sort if ridiculous thing coaches claim with a massive club bias. It actually makes him look more stupid that Powell, who should have declined to comment until after the hearing.

It's about time all the clubs came together to protect the safety of players rather than pick and choose.

Karma Police must have been present at the hearing, i expect every charge he gets from now on will result in a longer ban every time, just to make up for the ones he got away with..what goes around..etc..

Really poor from Tony Smith that. It was a poor tackle. For me the lateness wasn't the issue. It's the fact it clearly impacts the head of a defenseless player that makes it worthy of a ban. Smith is claiming that it's his chest that hits the face? A bizarre thing to say when Westwood has had a right swing at his head.