Warrington Wolves discover Paul Vaughan fate with appeal verdict revealed
Warrington Wolves have failed in their appeal to reduce Paul Vaughan’s suspension, and will remain without the influential prop for the last three games of the regular season.
Vaughan received a three-match ban on the back of his red card in last Friday night’s 16-12 defeat away against Leigh Leopards, dismissed 11 minutes into that game having been adjudged to have made direct contact with the head of Owen Trout with his shoulder.
Boss Sam Burgess was furious with the decision post-match, and it came as no surprise therefore that the club opted to lodge an appeal, with a tribunal set for Tuesday evening.
The Wire ran the risk of seeing the ban extend to four matches if their appeal was deemed frivolous, and though that hasn’t happened, their desired outcome hasn’t either.
As a result, with his three-match ban still in place, the forward will now miss clashes against St Helens, Huddersfield Giants and London Broncos.
LRL RECOMMENDS: Warrington Wolves coach labels Paul Vaughan red card ’embarrassing’ and calls on game to stamp out trend
Warrington Wolves discover Paul Vaughan fate with appeal verdict revealed
The 33-year-old has missed just two of the 24 Super League games played by Burgess’ side so far this year, playing a big part in their rise towards the top of the ladder.
With those three games remaining ahead of the play-offs, Warrington have almost cemented at least a 3rd place finish, and will do so if they avoid defeat in all three of those.
The Wolves have an uphill battle on their hands to finish in the top two though, currently four competition points behind both 2nd-placed Wigan Warriors and table toppers Hull KR with just six left to play for.
They simply have to win all of their remaining three – and even then it’s likely to not be enough. That was always going to be the case, with or without Vaughan.
On the back of Tuesday night’s tribunal, the RFL released the following statement to confirm the verdict: “The independent Operational Rules Tribunal has upheld the Grade D Head Contact charge handed to the Warrington Wolves forward Paul Vaughan by the RFL’s Match Review Panel following an incident in last Friday’s Betfred Super League fixture at Leigh Leopards.
“The player pleaded guilty but challenged the grading. The Tribunal deemed the grading correct, meaning no change to the three-match suspension and £250 fine issued by the MRP.”
LRL RECOMMENDS: Super League’s best defensive players ranked – Leeds Rhinos man top with Hull KR pair in top 10
