SKY SPORTS pundit Jon Wilkin has slammed John Asiata for a dangerous tackle that saw the Leigh Leopards star sinbinned after just 47 seconds.
Asiata was coming up against St Helens for the first time since the RFL introduced the ‘Reckless Endangerment’ category of the Misconduct rulings.
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.
Asiata was punished off this new ruling inside the first minute of his side’s away visit to St Helens, with Wilkin taking a dim view of the incident.
“I can’t believe he’s come into this game and done that,” Wilkin said.
“After what happened. I can’t believe he’s come into the game and that’s gone through his mind to attempt to do a tackle like that. Whether that’s illegal or not, the rules have changed.
“It’s almost identical to the ones that ended two players’ seasons last year – if you’re coming to this ground tonight to do that, you’re trying to incite an aggressive reaction and trying to wind people up.
“He’s walking off the field waving to the fans. He’s like a circus clown – a pantomime villain.”
Asiata then hobbled off shortly after with Leigh swearing on the Leopards’ captain’s fitness.
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