Robert Hicks on player records and Match Review Panel consistency

Josh McAllister
Dylan Napa Catalans Dragons red card Robert Hicks

Referee Liam Moore gives a red card to Dylan Napa of Catalans Dragons

Robert Hicks has discussed the impact of players’ previous records compared to match bans.

Our League show ‘Sin Bin’ returned to the app this evening for the first time since 2020. The show allows fans a chance to get a first-hand and detailed explanation of some of the key decisions taken by the Match Review Panel.

Presenter Rodd Studd was joined by former referee Hicks and chair of the Match Review Panel, Paul Cullen.

Hicks now enjoys an off-field role as the RFL’s director of operations and legal.

Cullen, a former Warrington player, went on to coach Whitehaven, Widnes and Lancashire, as well as his hometown club, has been a member of the MRP since 2015. He is now the chair.

According to Studd, 13 players were shown a red throughout the 2021 season. In the opening two rounds of 2022, four have already been sent from the field.

On the show, Hicks says that player records has an impact on their bans.

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Robert Hicks on previous records and their impacts

Speaking on Our League, Hicks said: “One thing I’d really like to say, because I know we have a lot of issue about this. The Match Review Panel charge a grade. It’s A, B, C, D and F. That then has a panel on it, for example if it’s an A, it will be zero or one.

“The determination of how many games you get is not about the severity of the offence. That’s what the grade is. You get a match ban if you have a record as per the rules.

“So, you can have two players do exactly the same thing; one can get a Grade A zero matches, and one can get a Grade A one match ban. The reason he gets one match is because he has a previous record. 

“So, when people continually say to us, ‘How is that consistent?’, that’s because of the record of the player, not because of the consistency of the panel.”

Calls for consistency

When called out about consistency by Studd, Hicks commented: “No two incidents are exactly the same. Anyone that tells you they are, it’s just factually not correct. It’s not on the same ground, it’s not at the same time of the match.

“I think reasonably, we are (consistent). But ultimately, you’re in a spectrum. You’re not in nice black and white columns of saying that’s an A, that’s a B. That’s the reality.”

READ MORE: “Punishments outweigh the crime” – the disciplinary dilemma

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