St Helens cruised past Wakefield Trinity on Friday night but the much bigger talking point came when George Delaney avoided a red card despite making direct contact with the shoulder to the head of Lachlan Walmsley.

That incident came after half an hour when the score was 20-0 to St Helens with referee Liam Moore explaining that there was mitigation in the challenge, much to the shock and surprise of commentators Mark Wilson and Jon Wells.

Moore explained: “George approaches the tackle and he is off his feet where he makes contact, he does make contact shoulder to head. There is mitigation and it doesn’t meet the threshold for high level force, so that’s what saves you from it being a red and brings it down to a sin bin.”

That didn’t wash with the commentators, the fans, or Daryl Powell who claimed that it was “a bit of a joke” if low-level force was the reason why it wasn’t a red, quipping: “(Try) get on the end of one of them if you want to see how low-level that is.”

Rugby League fans shocked at St Helens sin bin decision

Powell would concede that the decision not to send Delaney off had no bearing on the result as his side were handily beaten 34-4 by a rampant St Helens, however, the decision has claimed the headlines and is the talking point among fans.

Footage was shared on social media throughout the game with many confused why it wasn’t a red card and plenty of fans responded to Serious About Rugby League’s initial report, also shocked at the decision.

Here are a few of those responses with rugby league fans in agreement for once, believing that George Delaney should have been sent off against Wakefield Trinity.

You can see the incident in the embedded video at the foot of the article.

Frank Williams: As a Saints fan, (it) was a clear red.

Steve Buckley: That is a RED. He knocked the Wakefield player’s head back, what do you have to do now to get a red?

Christopher Jennings: Clear red but Saints would have still won comfortably in my opinion.

Ryan Underwood: Lucky is an understatement, I’d call it a very big error.

David McCooey: I’m a Saints fan and that’s embarrassing. It was a clear red card. No idea what the mitigating circumstances were.

Richard McNicholas: How on earth isn’t he red carded is beyond me. He was off his feet.

Martin Grainger: Definitely red but I don’t think it would have made a difference. Saints were great tonight, (from a) Wakey fan.

Mike Hornby: As a Saints fan, I can honestly say that we got away with that one… for once. Trying to think what the reason for only a yellow was.