Warrington Wolves dealt major disciplinary blow after Magic Weekend defeat

Sam Powell has been banned for three matches following Warrington Wolves’ defeat to Leigh Leopards.

The hooker was sin-binned for a ‘hip drop’ tackle on Leigh Leopards centre Tesi Niu, who was subsequently helped from the field and seen on crutches after the game.

Powell has subsequently been charged by Match Review Panel ad will sit out the next three games. They are crucial games for the Wire in the battle for the play-offs as they face his former club, Wigan Warriors, Hull KR and Leigh Leopards.

It’s another tough blow for Warrington, who are badly down on troops at the minute. They are without the likes of Cai Taylor-Wray, George Williams, Toby King, Josh Thewlis, Joe Philbin, Tof Sipley and Luke Yates, with Powell now joining them on the sidelines.

The full disciplinary charges will be released later today, with a significant number of charges expected, though at this stage, Powell is the only player known to be banned by Love Rugby League.

Leigh are waiting to discover the extent of the injury suffered by Niu as a result of the tackle, though he was visibly in pain after the incident, and subsequently on crutches.

Warrington, meanwhile, may now turn to young hooker Ben Hartill to fill the bench role held by Powell, with Jordy Crowther also among those currently injured at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

The Wire are still third in Super League and do have a game in hand over most of their rivals, with a midweek game against Hull KR on the horizon. They are four points clear of Leigh in seventh, who have ten rounds of action remaining in their campaign.

The Leopards dragged themselves further into the top six battle with a win in Liverpool, beating Warrington 24-6 in a game that saw Niu open the scoring after five minutes.