WHEN Leigh Leopards finally get their appeal heard against the Grade A Dangerous Contact charge handed to John Asiata it will be almost a month since the charge was first handed out.
It was the 1 March when Leigh went down 12-4 to St Helens at the Totally Wicked Stadium, with the first minute seeing Asiata being handed a yellow card for alleged contact on the knees of Saints’ Sione Mata’utia.
Though the Leigh captain wasn’t banned or fined, he still received a Grade A charge which would go against him if called in for further charged during the 2024 season.
The Leopards’ head coach Adrian Lam said that it was the “principle” that spurred the Lancashire club to appeal the decision, saying:
“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.”
However, though Corey Hall’s appeal against his Grade D Head Contact charge at an Operational Rules Tribunal tonight, Asiata’s appeal has now been deferred to next week, League Express has been told by an RFL spokesperson.
That will make it 26 March that the appeal will be heard, 25 days after the incident happened during Leigh’s game against Saints.
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