Every team one way or another has had a player who loses their rag and punches out. It's part of the game and has been for years and will be here for more years to come. Some teams retaliate back and others let it go just like Leeds and Ablett did on Saturday. The only people who know what went on in the tackle and the aftermath are Wardle and Ablett.

It was probably a sending off as Ablett didn't fight back, if he had done then it could've been a sin binning for both players. Some comments on this thread are laughable, Wardle saw red over something Ablett said or did to him and punched out. For whatever reason and I'm guessing maybe a cool head from Ablett, he didn't retaliate giving his team a numerical advantage for the remainder of the game which in the end mattered for nothing.

Good on Wardle for going for it though. As Anderson has said it will make a man of him and he'll learn from the experience and hopefully become a better player for it. It was a good game and a credit to RL and fingers crossed we can continue to build on the fantastic start we've had to the season.

Or it demonstrated that you can punch a Leeds player in the head 5 times and he won't react because they are a bunch of wusses. I know there is a consensus of opinion that Ablett was in some way "clever" for getting Wardle sent off but if you stand there and let yourself get punched all you are doing is throwing any momentum you might have away and giving a lift to your opponents. Had Ablett battered Wardle then it would have lifted Leeds and dropped our spirits.

I'm not advocating players starting fights to swing the momentum of games like you see in the NHL but really Ablett should've walked away if he wasn't going to get involved because winding Wardle up and then letting him punch him was the dumbest thing I've seen even if Wardle did get sent off.

nope.

and reports in todays paper was that it was in retaliation to a knee to the face from ablett on wardle, he had a big shiner after the game.

like i say very unlike wardle to lose his temper.

That's Ablett's card marked forever. He's never going to wind anyone up in future. They will just laugh at him, knowing he hasn't got the balls to back up his mouth.

maybe he didnt retaliate after he knew he had put the knee into wardles face

Being a Leeds gobe he was obviously waiting for one of his mates to come and sort Joe out .....Delaney obliged with Ablett smiling away like he'd got one over on him...TBF to Joe though he was still belting him with Delaney wrapped round his throat.

He is not hitting him, he is pulling his hair.

Nice braids on Saturday.

He didn't retaliate coz he is soft. He should ask Leroy for some tips.

If Wardle had battered Ablett maybe so, but he hit him several times to no noticeable physical effect. If it had been both players going at it & Wardle had landed 5-0, or Wardle had decked him with a couple then maybe so. But as someone who approached the game as a neutral & found myself siding with Hudds my initial reaction was it was great to see a bit of biff, that it was a crime that Wardle got sent off & why didn't Ablett fight back? With hindsight, & listening to the TV panel comments, Wardle was daft, deserved to get sent off, Ablett (maybe) did the right thing & I don't think the outcome fired any team up more than the other, though you are always going to be up against it one man down. It was a great game, a great advert & this shouldn't detract from that.

The frustrating thing is no one is asking why the hell the TJ didn't spot the knees in the face - if he's done his job the punch up never happens

Then again it made it a closer game with Wardle off, imagine how badly Leeds would have been beaten if we'd had 13 on the park

I didn't notice it on the telly either.

I've just watched it again and I still can't see much beyond the shenanigans that went on virtually every play the ball, with the benefit of a TV replay. I think you're asking a lot of the official there.

Ok, if you can find me a comparable incident where one player throws all the punches, with no other action to distract the eye of the officials and stays on the field I'll change my mind. I can't think of one.

If your big news is that Ablett got up to something naughty at the ruck you can have the Nobel Prize for stating the obvious.

I had a laugh at somebody saying Ablett's reputation as an enforcer was in tatters. He's always been a wind up merchant, never the enforcer. He's drawn punches at the ruck enough times before, Wardle wasn't singled out for special treatment. And every team in the league has players who do it, even you. Wardle should have known better than to react. It's exactly the outcome Ablett wanted. He's a young lad, and a good player. I'm sure he'll learn.

It reminded me slightly of the Brian McDermott vs Leeds incident when Newton put his knees into McD in the tackle. I don't think anyone suggested Newton should have been sent off.

McGuire threw 4 or 5 punches after he thought incorrectly that Cudjoe had kneed him in the head. The difference is Wardle landed his punches whereas it was unclear if McGuire did. If Wardle was sent off then so too should McGuire. If they're trying to outlaw the punch then both players would have nothing to complain about if they're sent off.