Case Detail
Case Number:
ON/401/24
Patrick Rainford #9, North Wales Crusaders
Competition:
League One
Match:
Cornwall v North Wales Crusaders
Match Date:
2024-03-24
Incident:
Interfering with an injured player
Decision:
Charge
Charge Detail:
Law 15.1 (i)
Makes unnecessary contact with a Player who is or may be injured.
Grade F
Sanctions:
Refer to Tribunal
Decision On Charge
Summary of CM's submissions on the Charge / evidence:
MRP were concerned at the manner in which Mr Rainford makes contact with his opponent.
• The opponent has been contacted high by Mr Rainford. The opponent stays down after the
incident.
• Mr Rainford can see that the opponent is in apparent distress but none the less aggressively grabs a hold of his opponent by the shirt and pulls him forcefully upwards before letting go.
• It is not for any player in any circumstances to have physical contact with a player who may be
injured. Injured players need treatment from appropriately trained medical staff to ensure that
any injury is appropriately managed in the initial stages and is not made worse.
• Whether a player is in fact injured, and if so to what extent, is exclusively a matter for the
assessment of the medical staff in conjunction with any necessary match official input.
• Contact, of whatever type/force, from another player upon a seemingly injured player has the
potential for serious medical consequences for that injured player.
• In very limited circumstances a player may render immediate physical assistance to another
player who is obviously seriously injured. This is not the case here. Mr Rainford is in no way
attempting to assist the injured player. His actions are in a purely negative manner.
• The incident was not part of play.
• This offence carries a possible Grading from E to F. In this particular case, the MRP felt that
the degree of force used, the fact that the opponent was potentially injured and the complete disregard for the opponent’s welfare and the negative and derogatory manner in which Mr Rainford acted, is contrary to the true spirit of the game with such actions having no place on the Rugby League field of play.
• Information has been circulated with regards to Head Contacts and players must be aware now
of their responsibility in this area.
• Graded F due to;
- Unnecessary contact.
- Significant and forceful pulling up of an opponent – who has been the victim of misconduct to the head.
- Duty of care owed to opponent.
- Do not touch players who are potentially injured in anyway.
Summary of Player's submissions on the Charge / evidence:
Patrick Rainford – tackle towards the end of game tired and lazy over the top of the ball
He almost laughed it off- I asked if he was alright and I was trying to help him up rather than pull him up
Not injured and I knew that he was – he was laughing and joking at the time
He said no mate I am good yeah I am alright and I knew that he was
It wasn’t that – I didn’t know he was milking it at the time
When charged with Grade F difficult to explain
The more I delve into the incident – he has apologised to me for going down softly
How is it not a red card
Pulls him in the same motion of getting up
Decision:
Accordingly Grade F
£75 fine
Reasons for Decision:
There is and should be zero tolerance to offences of this sort. It cannot be a defence and in our view in fact mitigation to say I took the view that he was not injured or even that the player said he was alright and that he was not injured – we are of the view that someone who said they were alright might not in fact know the extent of any injury
The fact that he was in fact alright and was laughing and joking shortly thereafter is irrelevant. The point here is that it can never be acceptable for any player to make a decision as to the extent of another players injury and then make contact with him.
The gradings are set here to be a deterrent and we agree with that.
The question for us is therefore is the degree of force used by Mr Rainford here to such a degree that it raises it above the starting point of Grade E
- Unnecessary contact.
- Significant and aggressive and forceful pulling up of an opponent – who has been the victim of misconduct to the head.
- Duty of care owed to opponent.
- Do not touch players who are potentially injured in anyway.
We do not accept that this was a pulling up of a player to help him to his feet this was a situation where frustrated with someone who believed was seeking to suggest more injured than Mr Rainford believed that he was
We have watched the footage again and are of the view that this was forceful and aggressive pulling of the shirt. It is not for any player to make any assessment of any opponents level of injury whatever the circumstances and given the zero tolerance to such offences it cannot be a mitigating factor.
Accordingly Grade F
£75 fine