SKY SPORTS pundit Jon Wilkin has blasted Leigh Leopards star John Asiata’s tackle technique in the aftermath of the Challenge Cup semi-final fallout.
Much has been made of the technique used by Asiata, with Saints head coach Paul Wellens labelling it “horrific” and “dangerous” after Agnatius Paasi and Alex Walmsley were ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury.
Now Wilkin has had his say, refuting claims of bias.
“There are two things to say on this, firstly I formerly played for St Helens so there will be an assumption based upon this on my allegiance to this club,” Wilkin said live on Sky Sports.
“I can tell you that my opinion on this has nothing to do with that, I thought Leigh were the better team and deserved to win the game. These incidents shouldn’t overshadow a great performance from Leigh.
“John Asiata, the player in question, is an incredible player, a tough player and has been one of the best in Super League this year.
“I’ve thought long and hard about whether it’s even worth me coming out to say this because I open myself up to a barrage of abuse but I don’t mind.
“It’s reckless, dangerous, it’s career-ending and in my opinion not malicious at all, but the technique Asiata used in the game has no place in the sport.”
Wilkin believes that if other players had been in the tackle alongside Asiata then he would have been red carded.
“I watched it live and it was a such a strange thing. We are obsessed with tackle height in rugby and John Asiata tackling like that is opening himself up to concussive injuries. The only time I got concussed as a player was when I tackled too low.
“We need to get the tackle height out of the narrative, tackling height isn’t an issue as defending players often get knocked out more than attacking players.
“What John Asiata has done is recklessly and with commitment, gone in at the lower limbs of a player – not with the intention of causing injury, but with the intention of felling them.
“If he had used that same technique and other players had been involved in the tackle, he would have been sent clear off because it is a cannonball tackle.”
