Salford scrum half handed ban

Salford scrum-half Jeremy Smith has been handed a two match ban by the RFL disciplinary committee.

Smith, 28, pleaded guilty to striking Harlequins half-back Danny Orr with his forearm in Sunday’s game at Twickenham Stoop, and was also fined £300.

Although Smith pleaded guilty to the offence his coach Shaun McRae told the committee that he felt the contact with Orr, who was kicking the ball at the time, was not intentional but reckless.

In his defence Smith said that it was not in his character to try and intentionally strike an opponent and told the panel that he had apologised to Orr after the match for the incident.

Although credit was given to Smith for his guilty plea and his previous good record, the committee considered the case to be a fairly serious incident, which not necessarily intentional, did make contact with the player’s face and had the potential to cause serious injury.

As a result of the suspension Smith will miss Salford’s next two games – away at Wakefield Wildcats this Sunday and at home to Hull FC in Round 8.

Smith was not the only player to plead guilty on Tuesday night, so did Huddersfield Giants’ Andy Raleigh for punching Leeds’ Ali Lauititi.

Raleigh was sin binned during the game for the offence and on reflection admitted that it was the wrong thing to do and did not set a good example to spectators.

After reviewing the incident the committee accepted that there was a degree of provocation from his opponent and, as a result, the offence did not merit a suspension but a £300 fine.