Missed it at the time and haven't seen a replay but if Alibert's seen it as an offence worthy of dismissal then that's proof enough for me.

Clearly a perfectly legal tackle.

It wasn't the first time Alibert has been told to distrust what his own eyes are telling him and accept the view of a lesser official over his own judgement.

He's a pretty good official but allows himself to be swayed by others. He could do with a dose of the John Holdsworths.

Glad to hear Kirke is OK and I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

Regardless of what us spectators did or didn't see, the ref's handling of the situation was shambolic.

so the officials just decided to give a red card for something they hadnt seen

or maybe they just changed there mind after sinfield started crying to the ref for 10mins!

Says the man with Danny Brough as his avatar!

Broughy only speaks to the Ref when its appropriate

Don't see the problem with speakIng to the ref as a captin. The main problem I would have is how rubbish is the ref if he pays any attention at all.

Luke O'Donnell not guilty.

FROM RFL SITE
"Huddersfield Giants forward Luke O’Donnell is free to play in his side’s tie against Hull at the KC Stadium on Sunday after the match-review panel cleared him of any wrongdoing in the 48-24 win over Leeds Rhinos yesterday.

O’Donnell was sent off by referee Thierry Alibert for alleged deliberate use of the forearm on Leeds prop Ian Kirke, who was knocked out in the collision.

Alibert recalled the Australian forward from the bench after he had been replaced by substitute Larne Patrick to show him a red card.

Huddersfield coach Paul Anderson maintained afterwards that Kirke had been injured by an accidental clash of heads and was proved correct when the panel found O’Donnell not guilty.

so are we going to hear anything about why the farce? why when Alibert waved play on did he then go back to the incident? Why did he initially speak to the wrong Giants player (which suggests he wasnt clear about what he or someone thought they saw)? why did Alibert seemingly change his mind about putting the incident on report? why did the fourth official get involved? What was the involvement of the fourth official?
I suspect that Alibert will be dropped from the playoffs - ironic since he initially made the correct decision about the alleged incident (even though he should have given a knock on against leeds)

I wouldn't ruminate too much about it......it about sums up the general quality of the refs in SL. Even Thaler (about the best of a sad bad bunch) got it horribly wrong in Leeds's CC semi against Wigan by [inot[/i going to the video ref when he had every justification for doing so.

Glad Kirke is OK.
Shame on Sinfield for persuading Halibut to send O'Donnell off then applaud when he did. Not only is Kevin Sinfield vastly overrated, he's a cheat too. Should be cited by the RFL.

I will see what i can do Mark .

Yes it's obviously all down to sinfield that LOD got sent off. There are a lot of one eyed fans around. Yes he speaks to the ref. as captin he is allowed. But no more than many others. Brough and briers as a example of 2.

As I said above it should be alibert who should be taking the stick.

On Kirke just read on sky sports that Kirke actually stopped breathing in the incident. Glad he is on the mend though.

LOL

Oh, I've missed PONNER

The thing with Sinfield he didnt just 'talk' to the ref as captain he was constantly in his ear all the time kirke was down, ive no problem with a captain getting clarification on a matter but it ws pretty obvious by his body language and his demeanour what he was upto !!

Alibert had given his original decision as play-on with leeds getting the ball, it should have been given as a knock-on, and play only stopped after the handbags a tackle later when someone pointed out there was a man down....and from the moment play was stopped Sinfield was straight over to the ref offering him his 'advice'.

Nothing will happen to any of the idiots who clearly didnt have a clue what they were doing, i wouldnt be surprised if we get the useless alibert again next week.
Its about time these bafoons were brought to book for bringing the game into disrepute but we all know they are immune from criticism from their equally useless leader!

Good to hear about kirke and his recovery,poor lad

Are people seriously suggesting that sinfield affected the outcome- his conduct was out of order in arguing for a sending off when he either hadn't seen the invident clearly or had and knew there was nothing wrong with it, and also applauding when the card was given-and im sure he was genuinely concerned seeing kirke like that. But he isn't all that that halibut would be swayed by him. The swaying appeared to be a result of a fourth official getting a twitchy bottom when it appeared that a player was seriously injured.
Anyway the main thing now is that Kirke is ok and doing well and possibly able to play next week.

Oh the irony of Sinfield being accused of being a crier for talking to the referee by some Hudds fans who have then spent the next 36 hours crying about something he's allowed to do as captain. Deriding him for clearly not seeing the incident yet they being so confident even from various decent distances away in a crowd of over 9,000 people knowing exactly the words he said to Alibert did cause him to change his mind.

Think you're wrong there. The officials were close by Kirke and consulted with the medical team. He then spoke to his touch judges along with Sinfield putting his opinions in. After what seemed like 6 or 7 minutes he pulled over LOD put the incident on report and spoke to him for a minute or so. After this had taken place he was subbed. The Leeds fans gave him abuse and the Giants fans like any other club would do supporting their own player clapped him off and he acknowledged this.

After the substitution, which the officials let happen, the match went a little farcicle firstly by the constant badgering from Sinfield to Alibert and then again by the officials and what can only be described as trial by video of the incident due to the length of time Kirke was down. The incident looked serious after it had happened but the initial collision looked ok and the officials must have thought so too as they let the game carry on. LOD was then recalled to the pitch which I don't think is even allowed and sent off.

All the officials and people who took part in the sending off have got this wrong and hopefully the RFL will learn from this mistake and never allow it to happen again. In the eyes of the officials the LOD was tried and convicted in a 15 minute period during injury time. This was wrong and has now been proved wrong. Anyway glad Kirke has come out of this ok and that no foul play was involved in the tackle. Good luck in the playoffs and you never know we might meet again at Old Trafford!!!!

OK, I saw it a little different to that but we all saw different things from different viewpoints in the ground although I'm sure LOD was subbed pretty much straight after the incident?

The funniest thing is some Hudds fans (not you) thinking that Sinfield had anything to do with it, why wont they share what they heard him saying to the ref?

You make me smile

Alibert is a joke

How on earth can Gary Hetherington bribe the officials if Sinfield can't chat to the ref??