LEIGH LEOPARDS captain John Asiata was once more thrust into the limelight on Friday night when Adrian Lam’s men took on St Helens in a fiery Super League affair.
Though Saints eventually ran away 12-4 winners, the Leopards caused their opponents all sorts of trouble even after being reduced to 12 men on two occasions.
The first occasion came after just 47 seconds when Asiata, whose two tackles against Saints in last year’s Challenge Cup semi-final caused serious injury to Agnatius Paasi and Alex Walmsley, took aim at Sione Mata’utia.
With Asiata’s actions last year proving the catalyst for the RFL to introduce a new directive in the tackling governance named ‘Reckless Endangerment’, the Leigh man was sinbinned for chopping down Mata’utia.
Some felt it was harsh, with Asiata’s initial contact coming above the knee whilst Sky Sports pundit Jon Wilkin took aim at the Leigh man, stating: “I can’t believe he’s come into this game and done that.
“After what happened. I can’t believe he’s come into the game and that’s gone through his mind to attempt to do a tackle like that. Whether that’s illegal or not, the rules have changed.
“It’s almost identical to the ones that ended two players’ seasons last year – if you’re coming to this ground tonight to do that, you’re trying to incite an aggressive reaction and trying to wind people up.”
Asiata was charged by the Disciplinary Match Review Panel, who said the forward “endangers the safety of an opponent by making contact to the lower limb(s) of the opponent in an uncontrolled manner in a situation where there is no genuine attempt to make a tackle, and which involves an unacceptable risk of injury to the opponent.”
However, this was only charged as Grade A Dangerous Contact, the least severe charge possible, and thus Asiata did not receive a ban or a fine.
The former North Queensland Cowboys player might be sidelined for some time anyway, as he tore his calf shortly after returning from the sinbin against Saints, with the current timeframe for his return unknown as of yet.
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