Obviously don't think Ferres meant to injure him, but obviously the aggression was there with the bust up that had just happened with Golding.

The fact is, even without intent to injure, there is a duty of care to players to not put them in that position, as there is with spear tackles etc, and that is where Gildart ended up, and when that happens you are treading a fine line. I don't think he meant to do it, just tackled aggressively and was unable to control it when Gildart kind of backed into the wrong position (not helped by I think it was Delaney coming in 2nd Man and lending weight).

Having said that, I don't think it was as deliberate as Singo's elbow and though Ferres has a worse record, he did get binned. I reckon 5 games is about right.

As an aside, these incidents always seem to bring out the worst in any fans, particularly in the immediate aftermath. The situation is not made any better by the likes of Phil Clarke either.

I doubt it very much. He has fractured three vertebrae.

Agree entirely with that. Gildart seemed to be trying to stay up, gain an extra few metres, Ferres was trying to dominate and it ended badly. I dont think Ferres put him in that position, but he has a duty to prevent him getting in to that position, and if Gildart does get in that position to be careful. He didnt do that. To listen to Phil Clarke tell it, Ferres picked him up off the floor, folded him in to a ball and jumped from a height.

This is a good example though of why i dont think the injury should make a difference. There will be worse offences where nobody is hurt, and nothing offences where players suffer serious injury. Its was lucky that Gildart didnt get more seriously injured, and unlucky he got injured at all.

Agree with this. I don't think any player intends to injure another, and I don't think Ferres did in this instance. However he has a duty of care to Gildart and he should get a decent ban for it. As you say 5-6 games would seem about right though I don't really know what Ferres previous disciplinary record is like.

Looking on RFL website for citings that resulted in charges:

1 match ban in July 09 for dangerous tackle (grade C)
Charge in April 2011 for dangerous contact (which website doesn't give result or grade of)
1 match ban (EGP) in March 2012 for dangerous tackle (grade B)
1 match ban in September 2012 for dangerous lift (grade B)
5 match ban in April 2014 for dangerous throw (grade E)
2 match ban (EGP) in June 2015 for punching
Not guilty in June 2016 or dangerous contact (grade B)

Agree it's unwise to take the injury into account on its own for the reasons you state. Remember Paul Deacon's awful broken jaw and pallet vs New Zealand? Not a malicious tackle just bad luck.

Quote: Bullseye "Agree it's unwise to take the injury into account on its own for the reasons you state. Remember Paul Deacon's awful broken jaw and pallet vs New Zealand? Not a malicious tackle just bad luck.'" It can be and I expect will be taken into account. Section 2.3.4 from the guidelines. 2.3.4 Injury  If the Misconduct has caused injury to an opponent, this may result in a higher penalty than if no injury had occurred.  Panels may consider the length of time an injured opponent is likely to be out of the game when passing sentence. media.therfl.co.uk/docs/On%20Fie ... elines.pdf

Quote: Bullseye "Agree it's unwise to take the injury into account on its own for the reasons you state. Remember Paul Deacon's awful broken jaw and pallet vs New Zealand? Not a malicious tackle just bad luck.'" It can be and I expect will be taken into account. Section 2.3.4 from the guidelines. 2.3.4 Injury  If the Misconduct has caused injury to an opponent, this may result in a higher penalty than if no injury had occurred.  Panels may consider the length of time an injured opponent is likely to be out of the game when passing sentence. media.therfl.co.uk/docs/On%20Fie ... elines.pdf

Yeah I don't agree with injuries making a difference to the length of ban. We could see an identical incident this weekend but through nothing but pure luck the guy gets up and is able to play on and the offending player get no ban or minimal, it's daft. I'm pretty certain earlier this year Briscoe was on the recieving end of a crusher tackle but got up after a brief pause so nothing was made of it.

Cuthbertson was lucky not to suffer a serious ankle/leg injury from Tautai's challenge last year, McGuire likewise from Sneyd's crocodile roll in 2015 and Sinfield fortunate not to suffer a broken jaw/cheekbone from Monaghan nutting him in the GF '12. Because those players were lucky to be able to play on or only missed a single week is a poor excuse not too issue longer bans (or one at all in the latter case).

I don`t think for one minute Ferres wanted to deliberately break a guys back.
Nobody in their right mind can think he did that to cause so much harm to a fellow player.
I do think he wanted to hit him hard to prove a point following the handbags that went on earlier.
He has made a mistake and will be rightly punished probably for 8 games.
At least the next time Leeds play Wigan it will add some more spice to the game especially as Mickey Mac and Bateman will be back.
Let`s hope Gildart makes a full recovery and he is not rushed back too soon.
And like others have said the medical team at Wigan should have taken more care over the players welfare or Wane should if he was the one who made the decsion to bring him back on.
On the same subject has McDermott come out and said how Ferres has now let his team mates down just like he did with Brad Singleton?

No, but then again he said that about Singleton AFTER he was banned, not hours before the hearing was due to take place.

That's how I saw it, between Gildart pushing up and forwards to try and get a quick play the ball and Ferres trying to stop him Gildart ended up in a dangerous position. The problem is Ferres then thought "I'll show them" and dropped onto Gildart without considering that Gildart's neck was bent, it's entirely Ferres' fault that the injury has occurred but there was no intent to injure. We rightly wont be seeing him again until June and I hope that Gildart can recover from this quickly and fully as it is a horrific injury.

I do hope that the RFL ask the medical team what the hell they were thinking letting Gildart back on though. Obviously they didn't have the knowledge we all do now but it was clear that Gildart was in no fit state to be on a rugby pitch and if we had gone his way in the short time he was on we could be talking a lot more than three fractured vertebrae.

McIlorum and Bateman the goon squad.

Ironic that Wigan are crowing about those pair of numbskulls when their 'justice' is invariably cheaps shots.

The irony is not lost on me.

Were you born with very little brain cells or are you just flat out thick? Gildart has broken 3 vertabraes in his back? And you think just because we have some dirty players, Ferres should get away with it? And no I didn't defend the flower incident before you say, I think he was lucky not to be sacked but imo nearly breaking someone's back is worse than punching someone undefenceless?, an 8 game ban he should get at least. And if a Wigan player did that they'd deserve the same

Just seen it again on the Super League Show. 8 matches would be harsh, mainly because I think intent will be hard to prove. He definitely deserves a ban, but I don't think it should be the max. Maybe 4-6.