Grade B is the lowest grading Tautai could receive. A 1 or 2 match ban is nowhere near enough in my opinion. Earlier in the season bans of 4 games were being given out, which is nearer to what it should be. Although personally I'd go further and be looking at 6-8 matches for such cowardly, sh|thouse, weak tackling. Along with bans/sanctions for both clubs and coaches in the case of repeat offenders.

Agreed, Mac pointed out in his press conference that if he breaks Cuthbertsons leg he is banned 8-10 games (I believe that is what Chase got for a similar incident)
Total inconsistency again from the review pannel, blatant cannon ball tackles should all be treated the same

Also shows how ridiculous the governing of RL has gotten, we ban shoulder charges because of player welfare on the off chance someone gets hit in the head (instead of just penalising heavily whenever contact with the head is made), touching the ref is a 3 game ban, yet a potential season ending tackle will be a one game ban
IMO Charnly should get a one game ban and a slap on the wrist and Tautai should be out for at least 4 games

Tautai should have been sent off but the weak-kneed Hicks bottled it as usual & another team benefits from his absence.
As happened last week with O'Loughlin.

I'd rather have a half-back who can do both. Lilley for me does neither particularly, hardly ever challenges the line and without he can find some pace from somewhere he's not going to be top half SL quality.

Time will tell.

O'Loughlin was sent off around 3 mins before half time.
Wakefield had the opportunity to take advantage but threw it away, litterally.

True about the shoulder charge, you can also add they've clamped down on players fighting and throwing punches much more in recent years so it's baffling what's taking them so long to clamp down on those cannonball tackles.

I know the refs need to be respected and we can't have players touching them but I think that Charnley probably getting a longer ban than Tautai is completely wrong as the latter offence is the one more troubling the game and much more likely to be repeated.

Hicks is very fortunate that Leeds players kept their heads after the Tautai 'tackle' as on another night or against another team it could've seen over the next few minutes tempers boil over and the match descend into a scrap as he didn't really do anything at all to diffuse the situation and was more interested in telling Ablett to shut up about the incident.

Spot on. I know it might have cost us the game and so I'm glad we didn't react too much to it but I'm also just a smidge aggrieved that we didn't tvvat the b&stard. In short, I miss Barrie a little.

You're right on Charnley, we have to protect referees, so a one game ban would be sufficient for me. However I'd far rather that Hicks had dealt with it at the time with a sin binning.

Except it wasn't a cannonball tackle. People who throw terms like that around really need to understand what a cannonball tackle is.

What Chase did, was a cannonball. He went in shoulder first on the knee of a stationary, upright opponent with no other intention than to do him damage.

What Tautai did wasn't a cannonball. He used a proper tackling technique to attempt to pin the ankles together and bring the man to ground. Even Cuthbertson said as much at the touch screen after the game. Yes he was maybe fractionally lower than you'd want, but McDermott went way over the top in his reaction - presumably without having the chance to look at it again on video before going into his press conference. Having had the chance to look at the video, the MRP have got it spot on in my opinion. The point of contact is the issue, rather than the technique used.

Comparing it to the tackle by Chase on Ferres is like comparing night and day.

Noticeable those thinking Tautai should be looking at a long ban are extraordinarily quiet in Carl Ablett using the same technique at least twice later on in the game. Benefits of playing in front of a home crowd who aren't going to scream at every borderline challenge on one of their players I suppose.

Again Hicks is getting grief for talking to Ablett. It wasn't his reaction to that particular incident on its own, it was Ablett giving a running commentary on every decision Hicks was making that got him pulled out and spoken to. Clear from the Sky audio.

Granted Ablett will have been moaning all game as usual, but to pull him out after that particular incident and give him a telling off and pretty much nothing said to Tautai or Wigan.....poor reffing and lucky they weren't a few more 'combustible' players shall we say on the pitch as it could've descended into an ugly clash in the following minutes.

If you think all that's wrong with that type of tackle was the execution/point of contact then so be it but I doubt you'll find many agreeing with you.

What pulling Ablett out did do was give everybody sixty seconds to calm down after the incident, although it's noticeable there wasn't that much of a reaction from the players over and above a bit of shoving. Clearly they didn't see it as being that bad, otherwise I'm sure the reaction would have been a lot worse.

And I'll take Cuthbertson's opinion on it thanks. I'd imagine he knows a bit more about these things and didn't appear unduly upset.

Unless of course you think it was as bad as Chase's. You don't seriously think that though, do you?

Except that the MRP who in your words got the Tautai incident correct chose to overlook Ablett's tackles.
Although, of course, Tautai could be found not guilty.

Thus pointing out you can't have it both ways. If Tautai deserves stringing from a lamp post, then Ablett should also be in front of the disciplinary for similar challenges.

No I don't otherwise I would've said that which I clearly haven't. It not being as bad as Chase's isn't a worthy excuse though.

As for Cuthbertson....how many times has a player complained about a tackle after the match? Very rarely happens and they move on.

Bit hypocritical to say you'll take Cuthbertson's view because he knows more but dismiss McDermott's who has played and coached at the top level in this country.

As mentioned previously Hicks was fortunate that they wasn't the likes of a Barrie McDermott or James Graham on the pitch with the likes of McIlorum and Bateman on the other side to show up his poor handling of the incident.

I agree that Tautai's tackle wasn't anything like Chase's effort. However, he went in at knee level at a downward angle. Having had my knee dislocated in exactly that type of tackle I think it should be looked at. Ablett's efforts were above the knee in the thigh area - much safer and genuine attempts to ground the player.
There is plenty of argument that it was not malicious or "coached" to injure, I tend to believe that, and that the tackle was just clumsy and just needs discouraging. There are lots of tackle techniques that with only minor changes can become dangerous so players should always be reminded of their responsibility. Not something that I would get particularly worked up about though.

trouble is it's often the same team making these 'slightly mistimed' tackles

Put a sock in it Gilder , call the tackle what you want but it was a shocker that could have caused serious injury , yes not as bad as Chase but worthy of at least 2 matches and please watch Abletts again as nothing wrong whatsoever

Where did I say it wasn't worthy of a ban? I said it wasn't as bad as some people on here were making out, mostly because it wasn't. I said the MRP have got it right with a Grade B charge.

If anyone needs to put a sock in it, you might want to look in the mirror.

This is how i feel about it. Third man in, targeting the lower leg area with excessive force at a stationery player who is clamped up top is asking for serious injury no matter the intention.

Charnley pleaded guilty, Tautai pleaded not guilty. Both get 2 match bans.

Yep. They aren't mistimed. The only mistake Tautai made was in making it so visible/obvious.

Tell me about it, still have pain when I sit too long with my leg bent 25 years later. It's the crashing downwards into the knee joint or below which can mess up a knee or break the lower leg bones. I have doubts that it's coached like that, although I can't really say that for sure can I?

Blimey! First Wigan get the toughest semi final draw, now players get bans which don't expire before the match.

Who have they upset at RL HQ?

Swings and roundabouts after curly locks leniency.

Yeah after Flower appeal his ban and got it overturned and O'Loughlin got off lightly they probably though they couldn't get away with it 3 times. Plus Tautai missing the semi final actually improves Wigan's chances.

Read my post again Gilder , did i ever say that you said it was not worthy of a ban ? and have you watched Ablett's tackles again ? . The fact of the matter is it was only luck that prevented a serious injury to Cuthbo