I hope this is just a coincidence. It was a heavy knock he took from Byrne when you look at the injuries he copped - cut to the mouth, black eye, cut to the head. There is no doubt that he staggered slightly following the impact but it took a significant period for the medical team to remove him which I found bizarre. I think Luke would be better advised using some kind of head guard.

If it had been an innocuous challenge and Thompson had gone off with a concussion then it would be time to worry but that was a fair old crack he took there so give him a week or even two off and I reckon he'll be fine

Mago had one of his best games for the club last night. Put some minutes in too, probably about fifty overall. It's like having a new player, he'll definitely be up for it on Saturday.

He throws himself into every challenge on attack and defence. Something that made him stick out in his early days and last night he was class and i like to see it from a forward a Paleaaesina style run but it can cause these sorts of injuries. It’s a catch 22 really need them barnstorming runs that skittle players but 1 in 10 of those runs your going to come off second best. I’m sure the club will take care of Luke. Hopefully more is learned about head knocks and there are things we can do to combat them.

I would expect Leeming to be the backup half if Smith is banned (assuming Leeming is even fit) with Farrimond second choice and possibly on the bench.

If Keighran didn’t get banned for his tip tackle in the Hull preseason game, I don’t expect Smith to get banned.

I watched the Keighran one on KPP in the GF earlier and that is worse than last nights and he got a game for that. I thought there looked nothing in the Smith one from the first angle, which was behind him but then they show the other angle and it looks a bit worse but Hooley ducks his head in toward the ground himself. I don’t know why players are doing that. Kev Brown was saying no player would do that to try and win a penalty but it just doesn’t seem natural.

I think he probably will get a 1-2 game ban but if anything saves him it will be the fact that Hooley ducks his head plus a pretty clean previous record (maybe even a spotless record - can't recall any previous charges).

Either way though domestic bans should not count for internationals (club or country). Its just shooting ourselves in the foot ala George Williams prior to last year's test series.

I like Kev Brown and he's an excellent pundit for the most part. He does have a tendency to say something ridiculous and then feel duty bound to back it up. It stupid to say no player would do that when it happens all the time! Welsby was always looking to do it in his early days. Possibly he judges other players by what he would do himself. Who knows? You only need to look at the angle of Hooley's head makes it clear he was looking for a penalty.

I just watched the game back and the Watts one could be seen both ways. Watts clearly has no intentions to wrap his arms Westerman lazily attempted to put an arm round. Dupree did appear to be a little stooped. Be interesting to read the match panels verdict on it. I think he’ll be seeing a couple of games for a shoulder charge. For me Smith should have seen red was no need for that tackle. He should get banned for a few games off the back of that. Cas then went on to play for every pen going.

I watched the Sky version back earlier, having watched on BBC in real-time. Not for the first when watching back, I thought the ref was pretty good. The ruck needs tidying up, and it's up to coaches and players to respond. Notable that Matty Peet had no complaints on that score. The only thing he might have done was send Smith off, tbh. I am not optimistic abut his chances. When will we know?

Find out this afternoon

I think Smith will be ok and just cop a fine. Hooley 100% dips his head when he's tackled, I'd hope it wasn't in an attempt for punishment for Smith! I have read somewhere that the ref states in field that the 'attacker dips his head' also. If so, there's your defence.

Big blow with Thompson out, he was looking very good in his outings v Hull and Cas.

Mago goes strength to strength and Leeming could be a really shrewd signing.

Fingers crossed. Watching the rugby league raw podcast, the guy on there is a Wire fan and he says Hooley should’ve been sin binned for it. He also says Smith should’ve been red carded, which then contradicts itself and makes no sense but at least it isn’t just Wigan fans seeing that Hooley ducks his head towards the ground. I’ve seen people trying to claim Smith drives Hooley in to the ground and that is absolute rubbish.

I think we can cope with the other potential absences but we’re done if Smith is banned unfortunately. He will form a massive part of the Wigan game plan and without that kicking game we just won’t have the control to give us a chance.

Thompson was a weird one I thought his first drive think first carry in the game he was stunned by he seemed to look a bit dazed and the physio ran over. Then there was something about him getting caught with an elbow/knee which caused the bruise.

Mago and Byrne was our best props and the others were solid. He took 3-4 defenders on every carry and his fend and pass to set French up was class.

If you have ever been put in that position (and I have) then you often go into self presevation mode, you risk being dropped directly on your head with the potential for you neck and back to bend in the wrong direction, so you instinctively curl your head and back under so that you are put down in a more natural position, sometimes with a player holding on to you, you can still land on the back of the neck, but it is better than landing direct on your head and your neck/back bending in the wrong direction

That makes sense and is probably what Kev Brown is getting at. I still feel like it gives Harry Smith a fair defence though but we'll see how we go.

Compared to the Keighran tackle in the GF which I though was worse and he got sin bin sufficient I think Smith will be OK.

The focus has been about direct contact to the head rather than this type of tackle so I think he should be OK.

The one they will look at more is Ellis - although there were mitigating factors in ellis bending his back, the attacker falling but all depends on how much of a statement the panel want to make in the first week.

On a side note, I think Luke 1st clashed heads then copped an elbow from the Cas player (unintentional) all part of the same tackle. Pretty unlucky.

About the 18th minute Luke Thompson went into the tackle on a Cas player, as he goes down he collides with Liam Byrnes knee, not so friendly fire!!

Obviously with his history any reoccurrence’s are a worry for Thompson but from the bruising/markings any player could have received a concussive injury as Thompson did. Hopefully nothing too serious and no loss of confidence.
I was quite pleased with his preseason performances and hopefully he will be a major asset for us going forward.

If anything I thought Ellis could do no more, his shoulders appeared to be almost parrallel to the floor he had his back bent that much, if he cops any kind of punishment for that then it is very harsh and I think the RFL would need to consider new rules that say the attacking player cannot bend their back when running in and if they slip then it is deemed a tackle even if a player does not touch them

So has everyone who travelled over got dry yet?

Agreed, if you look at that first incident on around 4 minutes, its a classic head clash with the sweat/rain flying off both their heads (it was the Lebanese forward that plays for Cas). I'm amazed that both didn't get checked then. Thompson was a bit slow to move after that tackle but carried on until the later incident around 16 minutes as stated.

Just on the Thompson HIA in this game, am I right in thinking that if he fails another one within a certain timeframe he has to sit out three months (ala Morgan Gannon at Leeds)?

If true he'd be a very expensive spectator sat in the stands