Leigh Leopards coach left puzzled by new disciplinary system after Edwin Ipape ban

Leigh boss Adrian Lam says it is ‘difficult to accept or understand’ why Leopards star Edwin Ipape will be on the cusp of another suspension as soon as he serves his current one this weekend, due to the game’s new disciplinary system.

Ahead of 2025, the RFL introduced a penalty points system where any points accrued stay on your record for 12 months from the date of the offence which results in them.

Compared to the previous version of the disciplinary system, where the Match Review Panel had to decide on the length of suspension required for each individual offence, the new process is intended to result in fewer suspensions.

And overall so far this season, that has been the case, but there are curious cases that still get thrown up, and Ipape‘s is one of those.

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Leigh Leopards coach left puzzled by new disciplinary system after Edwin Ipape ban

The Papua New Guinean hooker had 1.5 penalty points on his record ahead of last weekend’s 18-14 win against Warrington Wolves at the Leopards’ Den.

During that game, the Match Review Panel deemed that he had committed two separate offences worthy of penalty points.

The first, Grade A late contact, brought one penalty point, so took him on to 2.5 penalty points for the year.

The second, Grade C Dangerous Contact, came after a second half incident involving Ipape that was reviewed by on-field referee Tom Grant and video referee Chris Kendall but was only put on report at the time.

That offence brought five penalty points Ipape’s way, taking his total for the year to 7.5. Under the guidelines, any total between 6 and 11 points earns a one-game suspension, so he will miss Leigh‘s trip to Salford Red Devils this weekend.

But after that is where the confusion kicks in. The penalty points for any offence which takes you above the threshold for a ban are halved once you have served your punishment.

So, in this case, once Ipape has missed the Salford game, those five penalty points for the ‘on report’ incident against Warrington will be halved to 2.5, taking his tally for the year back down to 5.

But again, 6-11 points brings a ban, so as soon as the hooker steps a foot out of line again this year, he will be banned again regardless of how severe his next offence is.

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Adrian Lam: ‘It’s a difficult one to accept or understand’

Leopards head coach Lam is still trying to get his head around all of the above himself, and was honest about that when asked the question in Wednesday afternoon’s pre-Salford press conference.

He said: “It’s probably not a bad week for Edwin to miss.

“I’m not happy with two of the charges he’s got in the sense that Edwin probably could have prevented that from happening with some smarter decisions at the time.

“Having said that, the new system and how it works, that’s caught up to him very quickly.

“The way it pulls back after this and he is then still on that cusp of being suspended for the rest of the season, it’s a difficult one to accept or understand.

“But I’m sure everyone is in a similar situation at every club.

“For him, he’ll miss this week. We’ll look at Brad Dwyer, Matt Davis and Ben McNamara all coming into as possible selections for that nine role and a bench spot as a nine.”

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