IT’S fair to say that St Helens head coach Paul Wellens is unhappy over the lack of a charge for Leigh Leopards captain John Asiata following the two clubs’ clash in the Challenge Cup semi-final at the weekend.
Four of Saints’ players took knocks from Asiata – two of them, Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi, will be out for the rest of the season – and though the Leigh man was cited three times by the Disciplinary Match Review Panel, no charge was brought.
Wellens confirmed he had talks with the governing body following those tackles but that they ‘disagreed’ on “a number of things”. When asked how the meeting went, the Saints boss said: “Respectful, that’s the best I can say but we certainly didn’t leave the room in agreement on a number of things.
“I referenced the Morgan Knowles ban earlier on and it was a very different procedure and a different way of going about it than what we have been treated to this time,” Wellens said.
“There has been frustration in that because ultimately we feel we have been judged to a different standard and when that happens repeatedly over a period of time, enough becomes enough and you have to speak out.
“That’s why I have said what I have done today because of two players suffering horrific injuries and not being protected by the governing body.”
Why wasn’t Asiata charged? This is what the RFL told Wellens: “They said within the RFL existing guidelines there is nothing in there which they could secure a charge for. That’s their take on it and I would tend to disagree.
“At the very least, I will say even if you charged him with something, as a governing body, you are saying ‘we can’t accept that’.
“If Leigh then decided they want to challenge that and they find the necessary loophole to get him off then good luck to them but at least as a governing body they would have taken a strong stance that they don’t think that is acceptable.”