Quote: El Diablo "Not commenting on the incident in question, which I haven't seen, and the testimony certainly reflects attention to detail in preparation by Wigan, but I didn't find that a very satisfactory defence to a charge of dangerous contact.
Surely the panel's job is to decide whether the contact was dangerous or not? If it was, then the explanation that "I was coached that way, and I didn't want him to offload" is not a defence at all.
Not, I hasten to add, that I'm saying there was dangerous contact in this instance or any other, just an observation on a point of principle.'"
I know what you re saying, but I think that is probably more to do with the poor summaries they put up on the RFL website.
However saying that I think there's more in there than the "I was coached that way, and I didn't want him to offload" you state. That is no doubt just context and there is mention of a number of things, including the influence of two other players and how this make Hansen change technique etc to ensure safety as well as the influence of Lynch's own actions in trying to offload. All of this no doubt done with the aid of slow mo of the incident itself and more detailed explanation than included on the website.