MIKE ECCLES has been given the clarity and explanation he desired after a tackle on London Broncos star Bill Leyland in a 14-14 friendly draw with Castleford Tigers ended with the hooker injuring his ACL and being ruled out for the entirety of the 2024 Super League season.
In the aftermath of that game, Eccles was keen to investigate why there was no action on the field – which had seen Leyland taken high first – and no action taken retrospectively by the Disciplinary Match Review Panel.
The London boss has now revealed that he has received what he wanted from all those involved in the outcome.
“I wasn’t trying to get any player suspended but I was trying to work out how they came to the conclusion they did with the tackle on Bill,” Eccles told League Express.
“The Huddersfield player got suspended for the same thing on our Lewis Bienek and rightly so, but nothing came of this one.
“We just wanted clarification as to why nothing was awarded in the game for clear contact to the head and why the footage we saw from the officials about how harsh head contact would be treated, it wasn’t treated like that by the referee and retrospectively.
“We don’t want players banned so we are looking into the adjustment tackles around the head in great depth – it’s more of a warning.
“But any old school direct contact to the head should be made separate for me. That wasn’t an adjustment tackle, it was a direct strike to the head which resulted in the ACL injury.
“I wanted clarity on that, I’ve spoken to all departments with Head of Match Officials Dave Rotherham, Rob Hicks and the Match Review Panel.
“I’ve now got my clarity – it won’t change the outcome but I know why they came to that decision.”
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