Tom Holmes and Gavin Rodden have escaped punishment from the Rugby Football League for their scrap during Bradford Bulls’ 38-12 win at Swinton Lions in the Betfred Championship last weekend.
But the former’s ex-teammate and the latter’s current colleague Dec Patton has not been so fortunate, and has been slapped with a one-game ban from the sport’s governing body for ‘questioning the integrity of the match official’.
That was seen as a Grade C offence, and means Patton will miss Swinton’s trip to league leaders Wakefield Trinity on Sunday, May 19.
The incident can be viewed below:
Swinton Lions player Dec Patton has been charged with a Grade C (Questioning Integrity of Match Official) offence by the RFL Match Review Panel. The incident occurred late in the game on Sunday. He will now miss Swinton’s trip to Wakefield Trinity next week. pic.twitter.com/TZRgIIFElW
— The Game Caller 🗣🎙📻 (@TheGameCaller) May 9, 2024
Patton’s yellow card came with only a few minutes of the game left to go last Sunday, so had no impact on the result.
He was the third player to be sin-binned during the match, after Holmes and Rodden had been sent from the field by referee Liam Rush midway through the second half.
Holmes was obstructing Rodden’s movement deliberately, leading to the Swinton man taking a swing at him, the Bulls half back naturally defending himself in return.
But no further action has been taken against the pair, meaning Rodden will be available for that game Patton misses against Wakefield, with Holmes free to face Sheffield Eagles on the same day.
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