Clarification around Franklin Pele ban for Hull FC with Grade E suspension range explained

HULL FC’S Franklin Pele will be unavailable for the Black and Whites’ next three games with the former Canterbury Bulldogs prop being handed a three-match suspension by an Operational Rules Tribunal last night.

Pele was slapped with a Grade E Head Contact charge after using a swinging arm against Hull KR captain Elliot Minchella in a feisty Hull derby last Thursday.

In previous years, a Grade E charge carried a four to six match ban, with Pele’s three-match suspension raising some eyebrows across the rugby league fraternity.

However, it has now been clarified to League Express that a Grade E charge carries a three to five match ban, hence why Pele was given the lower end of the ban scale.

A Grade A charge, meanwhile, carries a fine, a Grade B either a fine or a one match ban, a Grade C one or two match ban, a Grade D a two or three match ban plus a fine, a Grade E three to five match ban plus a fine with a Grade F yielding a six match ban or more or a period suspension.

See table below:

Meanwhile, Castleford Tigers forward Liam Watts was handed a four match ban by an Operational Rules Tribunal last night after he was found guilty of Grade E Head Contact against Wigan Warriors’ Tyler Dupree on Saturday.

Michael McIlorum of Catalans Dragons was also slapped with a four match ban by a Tribunal after being found guilty of Grade E Head Contact in the win over Warrington on Saturday.

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