Castleford Tigers star banned as 5 Super League players charged

Castleford Tigers forward George Lawler has landed a two-match ban for his high shot on Hull FC’s Ligi Sao, with five Super League players charged in total by the Match Review Panel (MRP) following Round 9.

Tigers ace Lawler was sin-binned early on in their heavy 50-10 defeat at home against Hull on Friday night having hit Sao high.

The incident led to Sao failing a Head Injury Assessment (HIA), and as per the rules introduced at the start of this year, that now means the number of penalty points received for an incident is automatically increased.

Lawler had no points on his record prior to this, but has been hit with 15, with that enough to warrant a two-match ban alongside a fine.

Accordingly, unless Cas opt for an unlikely appeal, he will miss their upcoming games against Hull KR and York Knights.

Castleford Tigers star George Lawler banned as 5 Super League players charged

While Lawler is the only Super League player banned after Round 9, four others have been hit with a disciplinary charge.

Toulouse Olympique full-back Olly Ashall-Bott has only received three points for his high shot on York’s Jesse Dee during the clash of the two Super League new boys on Thursday evening.

The Knights won that game 38-14 on home soil, but Sam Cook has earned himself the same number of penalty points as Ashall-Bott for ‘Dangerous Contact’.

Wakefield Trinity powerhouse Caius Faatili has also seen three points added to his record for the same offence in their narrow 18-12 defeat at St Helens on Saturday evening.

And the most minimal charge of the week comes for Huddersfield Giants forward Chris Patolo, who made late contact on a passer in their 30-16 defeat at Leigh Leopards on Thursday night.

This week’s disciplinary charges in full…

• George Lawler (Castleford) – Grade D Head Contact (15 points) – Total Points: 15 – Two-match suspension and a fine
• Olly Ashall-Bott (Toulouse) – Grade B Head Contact (3 points) – Total Points: 3 – Fine
• Sam Cook (York) – Grade B Dangerous Contact (3 points) – Total Points: 3.25 – Fine
• Caius Faatili (Wakefield) – Grade B Dangerous Contact (3 points) – Total Points: 3 – Fine
• Chris Paolo (Huddersfield) – Grade A Late Contact on Passer (1 point) – Total Points: 1.75 – No Further Action