Fisher was sin-binned for the persistent head-high tackles of the whole team. Childs can be heard warning Newton that the next offender would get 10 minutes and it was just bad luck for Fisher that it happened to be him.

I understand that but he was binned for a head high tackle, now I thought that was a straight red, put on report or no penalty.

Like a soothsayer me, can't help what gets channelled, just have to get it out.



I don't know, maybe I watched a different game (and to be fair, for the vast majority of the second half the action was a long way from where I was stood) but I don't really feel like that.

Saints were better than some people have suggested, not at there best, but the intensity and line speed in defence was particularly where we struggled, limiting our go forward.
Nothing really bounced for us apart from Dobsons kick for Welhams try.
Some were deserved but we got a few harsh calls at critical times. I'm not sure we warranted being down to eleven, although we do seem to be a dumb team at times. If the referee is constantly pinging you for offside then make sure you're on. Been pinged for a few head highs? Don't do again two minutes after someone's been sin binned.
After not having the ball for twenty minutes we were always going to ship points in the last twenty, the players were utterly empty, the effort and commitment was there for me, they didn't give up and threatened the Saints line a couple of times in the second half by which time the game had been gone for half an hour.
Fair play to Matt Cook who came over and more or less applauded every Rovers fan individually.

Anyway, we're just lulling them into a false sense of security for the play offs.

Ooh, just thought of another positive from last night. Saw a badger, only the second time I've ever seen one. Chunky little fellas, ggrrrr!

The point is that he wasn't binned for the tackle, he was binned for persistent offending by the team. You can be binned for any offence if the ref considers it to be persistent and has warned the captain.

Hmm, interesting, never realised that and quite good refereeing really.

I need to stop reading posts like this, I'll know the rules soon and that will never do.

Simply put, but true.

This is roughly the same team that had a brilliant defence last season though.

The laws actually state that a ref can use a Yellow or Red card at his discretion for any player misconduct. A high tackle counts as misconduct, so theoretically any high tackle can result in a Yellow or Red card regardless of previous cautions. The persistent offence 'rule' is more of a guideline I think but is used pretty widely to avoid games getting out of hand and descending into a penalty-a-thon.

Technically a caution issued to the captain in this instance counts as cautioning each individual player.

Ironically, when you look at it Fishers was the most borderline of the lot. Cunninghams on 66 mins was far worse, which he then followed up in the same set with taking out Dobson which was as bad as Cockaynes. Inconsistency is a problem with referees, Cockayne could not have stopped if he tried, he hit the player within half a second of him getting rid of the ball, Cunninghams was later, but he stayed on.

I know in the great scheme of things had ours both stayed on we would still have got a tonking, but having to defend 13 v 11 must have had some bearing on stamina.

In the games I saw you play last season you were very well disciplined, which led to you having a lot of possession as you had a very high completion rate and made few errors. You were also generally kicking from good field position and playing in the opposition half a lot, putting your opposition under sustained pressure. All this added up to having an easier time in defence - doing less of it and doing it in better areas of the pitch.

For some reason this season your completion rate is much worse, which means that you're doing a lot more defending and more of it on your own line. That could explain the drop in defensive strength with a very similar player roster.

I agree that Fisher was a tad unlucky given some of the other tackles - he was just unfortunate enough commit his error right after the caution.

I don't specifically recall Cunningham's, but he benefited from Saints not having been cautioned for persistent offending. He was fortunate with Dobson that Dobson hadn't kicked - a late tackle on a kicker is an automatic sin bin. Cockayne could arguably be described as having been committed, and if he had done a 'normal' tackle rather than a shoulder charge he might have got away with it. It was actually the TJ who caught the offence and once Childs had his report he had no option but to show him the yellow card.