Warrington Wolves, St Helens and Hull KR hit with Round 25 bans

It has been confirmed this afternoon that the second-rower has been issued with a one-match penalty notice after the incident which saw him sin-binned against St Helens at the weekend was deemed a Grade C head contact offence by the Match Review Panel.

The Wire do have the option to contest the panel’s ruling but should they accept it, Fitzgibbon will miss the Round 26 trip to the John Smith’s Stadium.

Fitzgibbon was shown a yellow card by match referee Chris Kendall when an innocuous-looking tackle on Tee Ritson was reviewed by video referee Marcus Griffiths while the Saints player received treatment.

Ritson was cleared to continue while Fitzgibbon was sent for 10 minutes, further incensing Wire head coach Sam Burgess, who vehemently criticised Paul Vaughan’s sending-off in similar circumstances during last week’s loss at Leigh Leopards.

Referee Chris Kendall shows the yellow card to Lachlan Fitzgibbon (Image: Neil Ashurst/P&B Pictures)

Another Wire player has been cited by the Match Review Panel, with a tackle by Sam Powell in the opening seconds of the game being deemed worthy of a Grade B head contact charge.

However, he will be available for selection this week with the charge carrying a £250 fine as opposed to a suspension.

Another controversial incident stemming from Wire’s 16-2 victory on Saturday was the sin-binning of Saints prop Matty Lees for a late hit on Josh Drinkwater, who was criticised for the amount of time he stayed on the ground.

Lees has avoided further punishment for the incident, with the panel deeming the contact made had been minimal.

The front-rower has, however, been handed a one-match penalty notice for an instance of Grade B contact with the match official in the third minute of the contest.

It is not the only suspension St Helens have picked up from the game, with Moses Mbye being handed a one-match penalty notice for Grade B dangerous contact following a late hit on Cai Taylor-Wray in the first half.

Two other players have been issued with bans following the Round 25 matches, with Hull KR prop Jai Whitbread and Hull FC back-rower Jed Cartwright both handed one-match suspensions for Grade C head contact and dangerous contact respectively.