ST HELENS head coach Paul Wellens has ripped into the governing body for failing to protect his players in the aftermath of the Merseyside club’s Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Leigh Leopards.
Saints went down 12-10 in that game on Saturday, but there were a number of flashpoints during the game that continue to rear their heads.
One flashpoint is that of John Asiata’s tackling technique. Three times the Leigh man was cited by the Disciplinary Match Review Panel, but the Leopards’ captain was not charged.
Now Wellens believes that the decision not to charge Asiata means the governing body has “failed in its duty to protect its players” with Saints counting the cost with four men – two of them severely – injured.
“As a game, we bang the player welfare drum a fair bit and make a lot of effort and make a lot of strides as a game to protect players because ultimately we have a duty of care to protect our player at all times,” Wellens said.
“But, in my opinion, and very few would disagree with me, this weekend, the governing body has failed in its duty to protect its players.
“On the weekend, we had four players injured by one player tackling in a reckless and dangerous manner.
“One of those has a 50/50 chance of playing this weekend, that is Morgan Knowles. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook will not play for two weeks. Alex Walmsley is today having MCL surgery and will be out for 12 weeks and the fourth, Agnatius Paasi, has torn ankle ligaments and a torn mcl and also will undergo surgery to repair his ACL. He will not play for nine months.
“The RFL, before the Match Review Panel met to adjudicate on those decisions, were provided with detailed medical reports from our medical staff.
“But when I spoke to the MRP who viewed that game they, by 6.30pm on Monday evening after the decision not to charge John Asiata was made, by that point, had still not seen those scan reports.”
Wellens continued, identifying the process which Knowles had been subjected to following Mike Cooper’s devastating ACL injury earlier in the season, which the Saints loose-forward was given a four-match ban for.
“What I want to ask is why? Because that is a very different procedure to which Morgan Knowles was subjected to when he was part of a similar scenario after a game on Good Friday in which, unfortunately, Mike Cooper suffered an ACL injury.
“I think it’s important to consider, this isn’t an emotional response after losing a cup game. I congratulate Leigh wholeheartedly for the way they played and wish them all the luck in the final.
“But what we have got to consider when we are making decisions not to charge players who are tackling in that manner is that we give the green light to coaches, players at all levels to be able to tackle like that.”
The Saints boss also revealed that he could take his son out of rugby league if such tackles continue to be present in rugby league.
“As I sit here now as someone that loves the game, that doesn’t sit with me well and it doesn’t make me feel comfortable.
“I have an eight year old son who plays at Pilkington Recs with a smile on his face but if that’s the type of tackle we are allowing in games then maybe rugby league is a game I don’t want my son playing anymore. I feel that strongly about it.
“I feel that strongly that Agnatius Paasi, Alex Walmsley, LMS and Morgan Knowles have been severely let down by the governing body.”
Wellens addressed Asiata’s tackle technique.
“The bloke is out of control, hurtling himself at players’ knees. It’s a tackle technique that he hasn’t just used at the weekend, he used it against us in round three.
“This for me has been an accident waiting to happen and this is why the RFL and the Match Review Panel are culpable because they have had numerous opportunities to get him and influence him to stop using that technique and they have failed.
“We have a responsibility as a wider game. It’s not a St Helens vs Leigh thing, we need to clean our sport up and make it safe to play.”