WHEN the Disciplinary Match Review Panel releases its findings on a Monday afternoon, the whole Super League fraternity holds its breath.
Will a player from their club be brought forward by the MRP? That question is even more important for Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont who has revealed that, as well as working his own business and running the Leigh club, he is the man that represents his players at tribunals and outlines their argument if the club chooses to appeal a charge.
A man of many talents, Beaumont has explained how he had to drop everything instantly when last week’s MRP findings handed Leopards forward Tom Amone a one-match ban which would have seen him miss this week’s semi-final eliminator clash with Hull KR.
“One of my main roles in the business is dealing with that I didn’t quite finish a law degree but I am quite good at putting forward an argument in persuasive ways,” Beaumont said on BBC Radio Lancashire.
“I always deal with the submissions with that and represent them at the tribunal. You get very little notice, you find out on a Monday afternoon if you’ve got any charges. I run a business as well as my involvement with the club so I can’t just drop things.
“But you have to do that sometimes and it was that important for Tom Amone to be available. He had two charges and once we got the success on the first one, I decided not to hedge our bets on the second one.
“I did that because if you appeal a decision and if you get a frivolous, I don’t think it would have been but it could have been. There would have been a slight risk where we got a £250 fine and ban, we got the fine instead of the ban.
“If I had have chanced it and lost, it could have changed to a ban. I think the decision was right on what we got.”
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