LEIGH LEOPARDS head coach Adrian Lam has hit out at the ‘outrageous’ disciplinary charge given to Edwin Ipape following last week’s win over Bradford Bulls.
Ipape was handed a Grade B Dangerous Contact charge following that 38-12 victory on the road at Odsal.
Though the charge didn’t bring with it a ban, the PNG international was still fined and given three penalty points.
However, the Leopards managed to successfully appeal that decision at an Operational Rules Tribunal last week, something which didn’t go down well with Lam.
“We fought the Edwin Ipape charge, and we did a really good job on that,” Lam said.
“We felt that was unfair and completely out of order, so we won that one.
“Our club was very disappointed with the time we had to put into that to get him off.
“It was a charge that skipped Grade A and went straight into Grade B for a three-point charge with £600 fine.
“I’m frustrated we even got into a situation to challenge that. Everyone’s learning from things like this all the time, and it wasn’t going to get him suspended, but that wasn’t the point.
“We thought, in principle, there’s not much else you can do in the game of rugby league than Edwin did when he made that tackle.
“To be charged for that was just outrageous and unfair. We challenged it, and rightfully so.”