A contradiction in a tribunal’s decision is essentially what led to St Helens forward Morgan Knowles controversially being free to play in Saturday’s Betfred Super League Grand Final.
The England international was sin-binned for an alleged ‘chicken wing’ tackle when twisting the arm of Salford’s Chris Atkin in Saturday’s 19-12 semi-final win.
He was charged by the Rugby Football League’s match review panel with a Grade B dangerous contact offence and handed a two-match penalty notice. An independent tribunal rejected Knowles’ initial appeal against the ban on Tuesday evening but the champions still felt they had a case to get their player free for the Grand Final against Leeds Rhinos.
