ADRIAN LAM has explained why the Leigh Leopards have appealed John Asiata’s Grade A charge despite the club captain not receiving a ban or a fine.
Asiata was charged with Grade A Dangerous Contact in Leigh’s 12-4 loss to St Helens almost a fortnight ago – an action which saw the Leigh man sinbinned inside the first minute.
The Leopards’ captain went up against St Helens for the first time since the RFL introduced the ‘Reckless Endangerment’ category of the Misconduct rulings following his tackle technique which saw Saints’ Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi miss the rest of the 2023 season during the Challenge Cup semi-final last year.
That is now defined as recklessly endangering the safety of another player by making reckless contact to the lower limb(s) of the ball carrier where they have not made a “controlled” attempt to make a tackle.
For Lam, however, he feels it was a charge that shouldn’t have been given out.
“It’s the principle of it. It’s something we feel very strongly about that players are being charged at the moment that shouldn’t be charged,” Lam said.
“Just for the sake of that, we are fighting to ensure that John doesn’t get a warning because after three warnings you get a week’s suspension. We are trying to ensure it won’t be on his record.
“But it’s more to do with the principle in the act of the tackle. He tackles the attacking player at hip height before he lifts a leg and that makes him slip down.
“We see nothing wrong with that and we will fight that and support our players every single time if we feel there is an injustice there.”
Asiata’s Operational Rules Tribunal will be held next Tuesday at the request of the Leopards.
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