Case Number:

ON/1294/22

Taylor Kerr #14, Wigan

Competition:

Scholarship

Match:

Hull KR U16s v Wigan Warriors U16s

Match Date:

2022-07-13

Incident:

Strike with Elbow

Decision:

Charge

Charge Detail:

Law 15.1 (a)

Strikes with hand arm or shoulder - reckless

Grade D

Sanctions:

3-5

Decision On Charge

Player plea:

Guilty

Summary of CM's submissions on the Charge / evidence:

• MRP were concerned at the manner in which Mr Kerr makes contact with his opponent.
• Player was dismissed following the incident.
• The opponent carries the ball straight from the ruck.
• Mr Kerr comes forward towards his opponent.
• Player contacts the opponent with the shoulder/upper arm.
• There is no attempt to wrap the arms around and make a legitimate tackle.
• There is clear contact with the head of the opponent. The MRP submit this is initial contact from the players shoulder/upper arm.
• Referee confirms direct contact with the head in his report and has no hesitation and dismisses the player.
• There is a high level of force in the contact demonstrated by the movement of the opponents head.
• Opponent receives medical attention for a period of time.
• Players have a duty of care to their opponents.
• Head injuries are a serious point of concern for all involved in contact sports and players have to be deterred from making contact with the heads of opponents.
• MRP felt that there was no effort to grab, wrap or tackle the opponent and as such categorised this as a Grade D reckless strike.

Summary of Player's submissions on the Charge / evidence:

• Darrell Goulding spoke initially on behalf of the player and did not contest grade as it was a reckless challenge, albeit ‘front on’ and from his angle initial contact was not with the head
• Tackle followed a decision against his team which fired them all up but player held his hands up immediately after the collision realising it was a poor tackle
• Player spoke briefly to apologise

Decision:

Guilty

Reasons for Decision:

Plea

Decision On Sanction (where found to have committed Misconduct)

Summary of CM's submissions on the appropriate sanction:

• MRP felt that there was no effort to grab, wrap or tackle the opponent and as such categorised this as a Grade D reckless strike.

Summary of Player's submissions on the appropriate sanction:

• Darrell Goulding spoke and cited the angle of the tackle, the immediate reaction of the player and the fact that the opponent carried on as reasons to punish at the lower end of the scale

Reasons for Decision:

After hearing submissions the tribunal felt that this was a reckless act, there was no attempt to tackle, there was a high level of force, and that it was a unacceptable shoulder charge. The apology from the player and the fact that it was a front on hit and not a late challenge, meant that the tribunal felt they could resolve this matter by imposing a three match ban.

Suspension:

3 matches