Case Number:

ON/0778/26

Ethan Havard #8, Wigan

Competition:

Super League

Match:

Wigan Warriors v Bradford Bulls

Match Date:

2026-05-02

Incident:

Head Contact

Decision:

Charge

Charge Detail:

Law 15.1 (b)

Head Contact

Grade B

Fine:

£1000

Sanctions:

1 Match Suspension

Decision On Charge

Player plea:

Guilty but challenge the grading

Summary of CM's submissions on the Charge / evidence:

Following a Match Review Panel meeting held on 4th May 2026, you are charged with misconduct for a breach of Law 15.1(b) during the above match.

The Panel reviewed an incident which occurred in approx. 01 18 05 of the above match. In the Panel’s opinion you have contacted your opponent in the head and neck. In the Panel’s opinion they believed your actions to be misconduct and against the spirit of the game.

In accordance with the RFL’s On Field Sentencing Guidelines, the Panel consider that such offence is a Grade B offence – Head Contact

The Penalty Points for such an offence is 3 Penalty Points.

In accordance with the On-Field Sentencing Guidelines, the Match Review Panel consider that this matter should be dealt with by way of a Penalty Notice. As such, the appropriate sanction is determined with reference to the number of Penalty Points you have accumulated in the previous 12 months.

Including the Penalty Points accrued for the above charge your total Penalty Points is 6.5. Accordingly, the Penalty Notice imposed on you is a 1 match suspension.

• Match Review Panel reviewed an incident in the above match.
• The MRP state that the footage shows initial contact from Mr Havard’s right shoulder to the head of the opponent Mr Fulton.
• The Match Review Panel deemed this therefore to be forceful and dangerous as set out within the Head Contact Sanctioning Framework and that this was low level of force and danger. For a contact to the head with low level of force and danger, the entry grading where there is no sin bin of the incident would be a Grade A.
• The Match Review Panel believe that there were no mitigating factors.
• The aggravating factors are:
- The trajectory of the tackler’s shoulder/arm is always going towards the ball carrier’s head.
- The player does not lower his height to avoid making contact with the ball carrier’s head.

• The Match Review Panel believe that taking all factors into account a Grade B is appropriate in this instance.

Summary of Player's submissions on the Charge / evidence:

Player in attendance alongside Tom Fitzpatrick (Rugby Operations Manager), Sean O’Loughlin (Assistant Coach) and Chris Brookes (Chairman). Player pleads Guilty, but challenges the grading

TF explained that it is very rare the club appeal any charges against their players and they have only decided to do so as they feel there is a legitimate case to do so.

The club feel that in this instance the grading should be brought down from a Grade B to a Grade A.

S’OL then talked the panel through the incident and used some still images that the club had provided as evidence.

He felt the opponent stayed down with an injury to his left shoulder which is why the tackle had been looked at and that no penalty was given.

He added that there are lots of incidents of tackles where there is some head contact but they never get pulled up.

TF then pointed out that the club agree with the MRP that it was a low level of force and danger, and that was illustrated by the fact there was no penalty awarded and there was no HIA. The Doctors didn’t enter the field of play and the Referee allowed the game to be played on.

EH then talked through the incident. He thanked the panel for their time and accepted that he had accidently caught the opponent in the head. It was not intentional or malicious and it was something he had been working on in training. He felt he did lower his height and it was not forceful or very dangerous.

S’OL added that EH had had a similar incident where he did dip and drop his level and he came out of it with a head-on-head collision. There is a lot more of that kind of incident now where people are trying to catch, rather than dip and hit with shoulders, because of the duty of care to stop head collisions. He felt EH had been trying to do that on this occasion and has probably not got it 100% right.

CB then spoke and thanked the panel for the thorough and generous manner in which the proceedings had taken place. He explained his background in the game and he had served as Chief Doctor of the game for many years. In his role as Chairman of the club player welfare is absolutely paramount and in the forefront of his thoughts, and those comments aren’t just around the clubs players, they also refer to all of the players in the game and players that Wigan play against.

He reiterated that the club would never look to lodge an appeal unless they were of the view that there were solid grounds for the matter to be reconsidered, and there is in their view insufficient evidential basis within the framework for the sanction of this low force tackle to move beyond Grade A.

Decision:

Guilty plea

Decision On Sanction (where found to have committed Misconduct)

Reasons for Decision:

This hearing arises out of an incident which took place on the 2nd of May of this year in the match between Wigan Warriors and Bradford Bulls in the Super League.

The charge is one of a Grade B offence, namely Head Contact contrary to law 15.1(b). The Match Review Panel considered the footage and their submissions are that this shows initial contact by the player's right shoulder to the head of the opponent. This was deemed to be forceful; albeit at low force; but also, they say that there are some aggravating factors.

So the Match Review Panel considered there was a low level of force when viewing the Head Contact sanctioning framework and their aggravating factors; which they've drawn attention to are that the trajectory of the tackler's shoulder is always going to the ball carrier's head and also that the player does not lower his height in order to avoid making contact with the ball carrier's head. Taking all factors into account, the match review panel therefore impose the grade B penalty upon the player.

That led to the imposition of 3 penalty points, which when aggravated with the player's previous disciplinary record amounts to 6.5 penalty points. And accordingly, the penalty notice imposed was a 1 match suspension upon the player.

On behalf of the player, Ethan Havard, Wigan have submitted a number of still images to us, which we have looked upon on several occasions and we have again reviewed the footage both in slow motion and in normal playing conditions. We can submit that the point of the challenge is to the aggravating factors and we will deal with those. Submitting first of all that the player was not travelling forwards but was travelling laterally at the time when the tackle was made. We agree with that. It is also submitted that there was a slight dip or a knee bend at the point of the tackle. We do not agree with that.

It is submitted that there was a contact point between the shoulder and the chest initially. We cannot see that. We find that the contact was shoulder to head. Accordingly, we have also considered the sanctioning framework. We find after consulting the framework that the initial contact with the ball carrier's head took place with the right shoulder of the player to the ball carrier's head. We know that the tackler has a duty of care not to make contact with the ball carrier's head. We consider that for contact to the head with a low level of force and a low level of danger, a Grade A penalty point allocation would be appropriate.

We have then considered any mitigating or aggravating factors. We do not find any mitigating factors. However, we do find that the player failed to lower his height in order to avoid making contact with the ball carrier's head. He could have done that.

In addition, the trajectory of his shoulder was always going towards the ball carrier's head. Those are, in our view, appropriate aggravating factors to raise the matter from Grade A to Grade B.

Accordingly, this challenge is dismissed and five additional penalty points will be imposed, raising his penalty points to 11.5 and thereby implementing the one match suspension together with a £1,000 pound fine.

Suspension:

1 match