MIKEY LEWIS and Tevita Pangai Jr have been left out of the Hull KR team for Saturday’s home match with Toulouse Olympique because “there’s a standard that we want to uphold”, coach Willie Peters has said.
Both players received fresh suspensions from the match review panel on Thursday as a consequence of indiscretions in Tuesday’s defeat to Warrington Wolves.
Halfback Lewis has been given a two-match ban for Grade C dangerous contact, following an incident which saw him spend the final ten minutes of the match in the sin bin.
Prop Pangai Jr, meanwhile, will sit out four games after receiving three separate charges, all for late contact on a passer.
Their suspensions only come into effect from next week, yet Peters has decided not to include either in his 21-man squad for Toulouse.
Both had recently been in disciplinary hot water, with Lewis only returning against Warrington after serving a four-match ban for a headbutt and a late tackle, also against the Wolves in last month’s reverse fixture.
Pangai Jr was only two games into his return after serving a six-match suspension for gouging during a defeat to Leeds Rhinos in June.
“It’s noted that we’re the most charged team in the competition in terms of disciplinary points,” explained the Australian.
“We’ve been given the most points out of any other team in the competition and had the most players sitting on the sideline.
“Some players have done some dumb things without consequence, and if you don’t have consequence, then you keep repeating those actions.
“We’ve made a decision that it’s not acceptable to be sitting on the sideline and costing team-mates through behaviours that are not in line with our standards.
“There are times when it’s not deliberate, or there’s no malice, but these are repeated offences, so we’ve made a decision to not play those two this week.
“It’s more around our standards – what we’re going to accept and what we’re not going to accept.
“I believe it’ll help the club this year and going forward that there’s a standard that we want to uphold, and if we’re not upholding that, no matter who you are, then there needs to be a consequence.”