The Super League stars facing huge bans early in 2025 after disciplinary overhaul
There are some big names carrying some hefty disciplinary points tallies into 2025.
Super League has dramatically overhauled its disciplinary process for 2025, with a new points-based system that immediately puts several of the competition’s big names in danger of significant bans early into the season.
As revealed last week, players will now have points added to their personal tally every time they are charged with an offence. Grade A is worth one point, B is three, C is five, D is 12 and E means a referral to tribunal: meaning a likely end outcome of more than 12.
The amount of points a Super League player has in any 12-month period will determine how lengthy a ban their next offence carries. As a reminder, those thresholds are:
- 6-11 points: one-match ban
- 12-17 points: two-match ban
- 18-23 points: three-match ban
- 24-29 points: four-match ban
- 30-35 points: five-match ban
- 36-38 points: six-match ban
- 39-41 points: seven-match ban
- 42-44 points: eight-match ban
- 45-47 points: nine-match ban
- 48-50 points: ten-match ban
- 51-53 points: eleven-match ban
- 54+ points: twelve-match ban
Love Rugby League has had confirmation that every single player in Super League will have their disciplinary records from 2024 carried into the upcoming season. That means that the charges players accrued last year will result in them starting 2025 on a set number of points.
And it means for a select few players, even a minor Grade A infraction will result in a meaty ban. Here are some players with big points totals based on the activity of the last 12 months.
Update: Love Rugby League has had confirmation from the RFL that a major change to this system means that all charges last year are lowered by one grade going into 2025. That is due to there being six grades (A-E) as opposed to last year (A-F). So all Grade B charges from 2024 count as Grade A – 1 point – Grade Cs count as Bs – 3 points – and so on.
Michael McIlorum: 15 points
One of Hull KR’s newest signing is in some trouble with an early strike. He has three Grade B charges on his record – which results in a total of three disciplinary points – but also a Grade E head contact, which is another 12 points. That takes him to a hefty 15.
There is some good news; the Grade E charge disappears by mid-February meaning if he navigates the opening two rounds without an incident, his points tally drops to three.
But any strike in the opening round and McIlorum would be looking at two games on the sidelines.
Liam Watts: 12 points (minimum)
Watts has been no stranger to the disciplinary process in recent years but last season, he was charged just once. It did, however, land him with a four-match ban following a Grade E charge.
On the assumption that is a minimum of 12 points on his record, that means any offence of any kind lands him a two-game ban. But there is some good news: those 12 points disappear very early into the season – by the final week of February. After that, Watts will go to 0 points.
Paul Vaughan: 8 points
Another player that will start 2025 with a hefty points tally on his record is Warrington prop Vaughan.
He may have only been charged twice in 2024 but they were significant; with the first a Grade C dangerous throw in March – meaning that for the first month of the season, he will be treading a fine line.
Vaughan’s next offence was a Grade D head contact last August worth 5 points under this new system. It means the Wire forward starts the new season on 8 points: and a Grade A incident would result in a suspension.
Liam Byrne: 15 points
The Wigan Warriors forward has two serious charges against his name over the past year. The first was from the end of March, and the derby against St Helens following a Grade E head contact incident. On this year’s system, that is 12 points.
Add to that the three points for a Grade C head contact in May, and Byrne knows one mis-step in the first two months of the season would result in a two-match ban at a minimum.
Ligi Sao: 10 points
One player’s points tally going into 2025 we can work out with some certainty is Hull FC forward Ligi Sao who, on his very first strike, appears to be in trouble this year.
Sao is into double figures points on his personal record from incidents across the last 12 months having been charged on four separate occasions by the Match Review Panel. Some of those points will at least disappear the day after Hull play their first game of the season.
But it is the severity of those other charges that put him in huge trouble. There are two Grade Bs – each worth one point – a Grade C – three – and a Grade D for striking, which is five points alone. Sao’s Grade D charge of striking is on his record until late-July.
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