I view this in a very similar light to the of Fielden and Mason, Fielden played the hard man and stuck his chin out, Mason duly hit it.

Wilkin grabbed Senior by the chest adn Keith slapped him, Wilkin at this point had the option to let go, unfortunately (for him) he didnt so Keith hit him with more power, this is a reaction that should be classed as business as usual.

You are right, Wilkin went looking for trouble and got it. You don't push Keith face first to the floor and then continue to hold the guy by the chest and don't expect to get a slap!

[quoteI view this in a very similar light to the of Fielden and Mason, Fielden played the hard man and stuck his chin out, Mason duly hit it.
Wilkin grabbed Senior by the chest adn Keith slapped him, Wilkin at this point had the option to let go, unfortunately (for him) he didnt so Keith hit him with more power, this is a reaction that should be classed as business as usual.'"

Goodness me.

Sit yourself down.

Take a deep breath.

Ready?

I agree with you Mr Ramrod.

Having had time to see the incident again, does anyone think that Wilkin could be looking at a possible ban? I think Keith was very badly done to.

Anyone see Senior Going mental with Bailey when his sloppy defence lead to the Flannery try ?? Mr Bailey got a real ear bashing .. and rightly so. Thought Bailey looked only 70% fit.. hopefully lots more to come from him in the playoffs.

It looked like nothing, then you can see on close up Wilkin saying a few things to Senior, then Senior hit him. Senior shouldn't have punched Wilkin, I think that's obvious, but it would be interesting to know what was said.

I think Senior was right to follow Eastmond as he was the most dangerous player, it's just that when the switch came his old bones couldn't change direction quick enough.

Yup that is how it looked to me also. The blame lay somewhere between the two of them.

As for the Senior - Wilkin skirmish, my take is Barrie-Jon started it and Keith finished it. The problem there is Senior copped a four match ban for that one in '98.

The lesson is don't get in Senior's face unless you want a smack, if only a couple of GB/England props (recent past and present) could back it up the way Senior does we might get more respect from the Aussies.

I don't think Keith needs to ask himself why he chased Eastmond. Eastmond was running with pace at the line and he was about 4m out. He was chasing him to make sure Eastmond wasn't going to score. When Eastmond passed the ball inside he made as much of an effort as possible to stop Flannery, but it was too much to ask.

Contrast that with Bailey, who seeing three of his team mates running towards towards the corner, stayed pretty much still, leaving a huge gap, and then only made a half hearted run to stop Flannery when it was obvious he was going in to score.

Keith was working hard and partly to blame, but Bailey weas dawdling and that was the major reason for the try. I'd much rather we make mistakes because of over-committment than not working enough in the first place.

Personally I thought Bentham bottled it big style on Friday and that Senior should have been sent off. It wasn't the sort of handbags that normally results in a binning, it was a full on punch delivered with force and only the fact Wilkin has a glass jaw stopped more from following IMO.

The touch judge's report was clear and concise but Bentham seemed to be waiting for either the TJ or video ref to tell him what to do next in terms of punishment.

Irrespective of the provocation involved, if you stand up and clock someone then you should be getting red carded IMO, not binned.

I bet you shave your nuts as well.

I can see your point, but you need to be aware of where the threat is when you are defending, and Eastmond at that point was running sideways straight into two defenders who at the time were marking nobody. If Senior holds his ground and passes Eastmond on, then whether he keeps the ball or drops Flannery off there's a line of defenders waiting for the ball carrier

Over-enthusiasm can be just as dangerous when you are defending your line - take a look at a number of occasions last year when Gareth Ellis was defending in the centres and flew out of the line leaving gaps.

I think Keith should have been sent off as well. Not because of the punch, but because of his actions afterwards. Even when Bentham was telling him clearly to step back he stood there and challenged the Saints players. That should have pushed the yellow into a red IMO.

For the actual punch I don't think he should have been sent off for that. Wilkin started it by pushing his head down to the ground when Keith was playing the ball. There was a little skirmish between them and both ended up on the deck. Keith was angry and could've smacked Wilkin then, but instead allowed him to get to his feet. Both players then grabbed at each others shirts, Wilkin said something, Keith slapped at Wilkin and then smacked him.

Wilkin got a smack which he was asking for.

If Keith should've got a red for his punch, then why shouldn't Gilmour for smacking Sean Long.