Hull KR coach delivers verdict on potential Elliot Minchella ban following sin-bin in Leigh Leopards victory

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters has delivered his verdict on any potential ban for captain Elliot Minchella, deeming the yellow card his skipper picked up in their win at Leigh Leopards enough punishment.

Loose forward Minchella saw yellow from match referee Chris Kendall with a little over 17 minutes remaining at Leigh on Friday night having made contact with the head of Matt Moylan with a swinging arm.

The pair collided as Moylan returned to the ground having leaped in the air to try and catch a high bomb kick.

At that point, KR were already 22-0 to the good, with Mikey Lewis tagging on a penalty which saw the result end 24-0 in the visitors’ favour as they continued their pursuit of the League Leaders’ Shield.

Hull KR coach delivers verdict on potential Elliot Minchella ban following sin-bin in Leigh Leopards victory

Replays showed the contact wasn’t pretty, and given how severely contact with the head has been punished this year, alarm bells were ringing.

A video referee review brought mitigation which meant Minchella saw yellow rather than red, but boss Peters admits it will still be all eyes on the Match Review Panel’s verdict.

Post-match, the Robins boss said: “You don’t know (what card is going to come out of the referee’s pocket), do you?! You’re just waiting.

“I need to have another look at it, but it’s one of those where players are going up and they’re coming down, it’s very difficult to get your tackle right.

“I don’t think there was any intent, and it’s one of those where we’ll just have to wait until Monday (for the Match Review Panel’s decision), but hopefully they see it for what it is.

“I don’t think he went out to swing an arm and take Matty Moylan’s head off, that’s for sure, it was accidental.”

Minchella has missed just two of Rovers’ 26 league games so far this season, playing a huge part in them becoming genuine title contenders.

Ahead of next week’s final round, KR remain in with an outside chance of winning the League Leaders’ Shield, though Wigan Warriors would need to lose against Salford Red Devils for Peters’ side to have any chance.

They host Leeds Rhinos at Craven Park next Friday night before heading into the play-offs, likely into the semi-finals.

Accordingly, if Minchella is to be banned, he could potentially miss play-off matches, and on that possibility, Peters said: “We’ll worry about that if it happens. Hopefully they (the Match Review Panel) see it was the referee saw it tonight.

“It’s one of those where if they give 10 then they give 10, and I think that’s enough. Again though, I need to have a look at it before commenting too much.

“I saw it live and then I saw a replay quickly, and I thought the 10 minutes was sufficient if they’re going to give those for contact around the head.”