Absolutely abysmal decision. I really do think that the RFL is no longer fit for purpose.

Go through the records of sending-offs and subsequent bans for shoulder charges over the last couple of years and there isn't one as bad as this and some were seriously just plain soft (I seem to recall Saints got stitched-up with a couple at Hull KR).

Basically in rugby ,apart from thinking, the head & neck play no part in the game so any contact whatsoever with either should be outlawed . There really is no need to tackle any higher than just above elbow height & anything else should be treated as foul play. In the wider interests of the game players need to be protected from injury ,protected from cheap thuggery & then we may see a bit more skill having to be used to win games.

Perhaps now is the time for the RFL to consider making head gear mandatory? I don't mean NFL style helmets but the kind of protection Chris Hill wears. I know some players don't like wearing them but player safety has to be no.1 priority. If I was TS and Warrington I'd be telling my players to get used to it, because if the RL and the refs can't protect the players, the club should.

Some players in our game are too brave for their own good, and we are approaching the day where a player is seriously, seriously injured on a pitch in the name of entertainment.

A Headguard wouldn't have protected Matt Russell, he got the sharp end of a shoulder fair and square in the mush.

Head gear would certainly have got us another season out of M.Monas

Cahill had some 'daft-looking' protective equipment shoved down the back of his shirt which a number of us in the East were "commenting" on when he first stood on the line in the first half. But obviously, this kind of protection is required with the kind of injuries that players are increasingly suffering from.

Good news about Bridge, but agree he should be rested for Cas if not strictly 100%. When's Ben Westwood back?

Can we rest Bridge?

Unless Russell is somehow allowed to play, we need Ratch at FB so Atkins and Bridge in the Centres?

Move Joel into centres and play Ormsby if necessary.

he'd be up against carney

Carney would rip Ormsby to shreds, he is still learning his trade. play Bridge and Joel!

Would rather risk Bridge than do that tbh. Bridge & Monas' partnership won us the game last Thursday.

What is the news regarding Bridge?
Not seen anything.

I was down at the stadium earlier, he was warming up seperately from the team. My guess is that we're managing him through training as we are through games, personally i dont think we can rest him, not with the other personnell out at the moment, the only important thing now...is the next game.

Was anyone missing FMC?

Ormsby is in the 19, TS obviously preparing for Bridge not being fit.

That is two Wire full backs "wiped out" by Widnes players. If that wasn't contact with the head then I give up.
If Hock had made that contact, he would have been banned sine die.

But no-one is saying that there wasn't contact with the head, just that it wasn't particularly deliberate or malicious:

"Leuluai was not penalised for the incident at the time and the Rugby Football League's match-review panel have ruled that the player has no case to answer.

The panel's ruling was that the "player makes a legitimate attempt to tackle and makes contact direct to the head of opponent, however opponent is dipping while trying to re-gather ball".

It baffles me that we've had endless debates on these boards about "return of the biff", "hardman enforcers", "game going soft with outlawing of shoulder charges" etc then want to throw the book at the opposition when something happens to one of our guys.

How often is contact with the head deliberate/malicious? "Biff" and dangerous play aren't the same thing.

So, let me get it straight. Matty Russell carried out a vicious attack on the Widnes player's shoulder with his kisser by dipping into the tackle.

The discipline committee must have had there dark glasses on again as you can see that Leuluai clearly dips his shoulder going into the tackle, which for me is a deliberate shoulder charge with the intention of taking Matty out of the game.
Does a player have to get paralyzed or suffer a career ending injury before the RFL clamp down on these instances.
The same goes for the insidious "Cannonball" tackle practiced on a regular basis by a certain team just of the M6, not far from Warrington, if they are losing and can't win by fair means, cripple a player. This tackle is banned in Australia, why not here ?

I say Brady old boy , i'm with you on this , Russell's assault with his head on Leulai's shoulder was inexcusable !

Going back a few years Moz did Big Eorl at Huddersfield with a monster tackle without being any where near his head or neck & it resulted in Eorl not playing any further part. Big hits are a legitimate part of the game but any upper body/neck/head contact that could potentially maim cannot be tolerated & there should be no part in RL for players who practise these methods or coaches who encourage them. Do we really want see players paralysed for life or worse & could players who caused such injuries live with themselves . It is no consolation ,after the act,saying "What happens on the field stays on the field " & wondering why your victim is maimed for life.

The RFL needs to act now ,this is real life not a video game where the victims gets up & walks away !

Potentially only 3 games left, got to go all out now.

If I didn't know better it could look like the Rfl are covering up the ineptitude of the officials. The VR said there was no contact to the head despite having plenty of time to review the footage as Russell was out cold.
If they had correctly identified the contact with the head Widnes would have been a man down, irrespective of intentions/dipping player.
The post match reactions of Carney and Wells summed up the situation perfectly when compared to recent sending-offs.
If there was a ban dished out this week, some awkward questions would have been asked about the effectiveness of the video refs especially as Jon Wells highlighted at half time they had made a mistake with the 2nd Widnes try.....

I agree with bacon. This smells of protecting the ineptitude of the VR involvement. No blame on Thaler he asked them to look and clrarly they were incompetent.