High tackle punishments explained: What constitutes red and yellow card offences

The new Super League season may only be a round old, but there is already plenty of debate surrounding the amount of suspensions that have been handed out.

There were three red cards on the opening weekend of the season, with Catalans' Dylan Napa, Leeds' James Bentley and Hull's Jake Connor all being sent off for high shots on opposition players.

All three decisions have received varying degrees of criticism, with an appeal into Bentley's ban earning the Rhinos forward an extra match. He will now miss four games, while Holmes will miss the reunion with former club Castleford after earning a one-match ban.

But what are the rules enforced by officials surrounding high tackles? What constitutes a yellow, a red or simply a penalty? Rugby League Live has endeavoured to get to the bottom of the matter - and the answer is not quite as straightforward as you may think.

One point which was made abundantly clear to Rugby League Live is that there is no extra 'clampdown' on high tackles this year, with officials instructed to referee the game under the same set of rules that have been in place for the last few seasons. The starting point for every head-high challenge is to consider whether it is careless, reckless or intentional.

If it is careless, the starting point would be a penalty against the offender. A tackle deemed reckless begins at a yellow card, while if there is deemed to be intent in any tackle that catches an opponent high, the starting point would be a straight red card, a fate which befell Napa, Bentley and Connor on the opening round of the season.

However, it is a very fluid situation, and not simply as black and white as pigeon-holing each tackle into a simple category. The other major factor which