Speechless

That is absolutely shameful. It should’ve been increased to three as a frivolous appeal. I am flabbergasted. Leeds have been on the end of some dubious bans this season and they must be shaking their heads in disbelief.

Told ya..what gets me is what the hell on earth is different on the 2nd appeal from the 1st..I'd love to know

A bigger wedge of cash from the screaming skull perhaps?

Our game is a joke, refereeing is a joke and the disciplinary is a Shakespearean farce!

How to lose credibility and fans, well done rfl.

I'll stick to the NRL next year I reckon (apart from the Wire)

Supposedly the Salford player's arm wasn't put in an unnatural position....

In real time…..
Or on the video replay….
Or on the first appeal…..
Or on the second appeal….
?????

"Tonight’s tribunal accepted that while there was some twisting to apply pressure to the limb of an opposing player, this did not exceed the normal range of movement and therefore could not have posed an ‘unacceptable risk of injury"

...
From the RFL Twitter account

To stand out as the worst disciplinary decision of all time takes some doing but this managed it. Corruption, plain and simple.

Absolute joke, saints pull out the saints get out of jail free card again in the judiciary panel! That was as frivolous an appeal that there has ever been and the ban gets overturned! Wow. The incompetence is just astounding.

Whilst I was surprised they overturned it on a second appeal, the decision is clearly correct. Take the club element out of it and look objectively at the position the arm was put into. It wouldn't have hurt Atkin and there was no force involved. It's definitely a penalty and I agree with the yellow card as it stopped a quick play the ball near the line, but missing the Grand Final for that would be wrong. Saints were also able to demonstrate very similar if not worse incidents from this season that were also not banned.

It's also not the first time a player has been cleared to play in a Grand Final after being banned. Lee Smith for Leeds was cleared to play on appeal after being given a 4 game ban for kicking a player in the head. That maybe puts Knowles' (stupid but not dangerous) act into perspective?

I don't think any player has ever been banned from a Grand Final in Super League (I could be wrong).