Really?
That's not what the Independent and Guardian say. Both papers - who I don't think are biaised either way - suggest the the RFL needs to investigate what looked to be a late challenge on wheeler. It is unusual for papers to even suggest such actions which shows that their reporters think it was late. (The tabloids didn't give the whole game more than about 100 words so no surprise they didn't mention it).

This does not "happen every week" any more as you well know - it is totally outlawed and yes hooper did it all the time and got penalised for it and then it was banned. In particular, he took a delight in taking out briers to such an extent that he became the no1 hate figure in this town!

Even the Express says the tackle was late - well they describe it as an "off-the-ball tackle" forcing wheeler out of the actionhttps://www.express.co.uk/printer/view/242470/rl.

Three independent newspapers to nil against so far saying it was late/ off the ball.

Translation: And no, Rogues, the two are not comparable as one was by a Saints player and as you well know, Saints can do no wrong.

Get a life girl! Even better, get an evenhanded approach to you views. How come you aren't giving the same milage to complaints about the ridiculous 'face knock on' that changed the course of the match, George Carmont being penalised for playing the ball despite the 'obvious to everyone but the ref' fact that a Saints player had a hand on him thus rendering the tackle complete. What about the 'Offside' against the same player that, according to, not only the actual rules of the game, but the ref's own call, was impossible?

The bottom line is there were good and bad decisions for and against both teams. It's called sport. I know you have trouble with the concept but give it a go eh?

Let's see what the RFL do about it.

If we'd won and wheeler wasn't injured that tackle wouldn't even get a mention.

In fact it would be the forward pass that would be the excuse.

Big Dave fairleigh, I'll write what I think happened, not what other people want me to write, this is a open forum where people write opinions. My opinion is that he looked committed ( only see it live, I'm not that obsessed as to watch it back with stopwatch).

If three newspapers said it was late then by god they must be right so I'll take back my own personal opinion and change in what I beleive because three newspapers say it. I recall them newspapers writing that KC had left saints for welsh union.

Confrontational mr fairleigh? Give over you wuss.

Yet the four officials didn't.

At least two officials didn't call the forward pass which led to Wigan's first try. Does that mean the forward pass didn't happen?

You can never use the action/inaction of officials as an argument one way or the other because they are largely incompetent in rugby league.


On Superleague Supermen, Keiron himself said that he had the paper in front of him, that he was five minutes from signing. He had been interviewed by the press. And besides which, the Independent and the Guardian both write opinion pieces on rugby league. Op Eds may have facts in them but they are not factual as investigative pieces are. They are opinion.

Does the rule state that the kicker can't be touched at any point?

If so the are many pens going missed every week in every rugby league game all over the world.

The aim should not be to touch the kicker; the aim is to either distract the kicker or intercept the ball. Hoffman was so late and so hard in to Wheeler, there looked to be no intention of going for the ball, but only the kicker. That surely is against the present ruling?

I've read on Redvee today that one poster who watched the match in the corporate area said the Wigan u20s guys came in at one time and claimed the plan was to 'take out' Wheeler. Could be garbage on all fronts, but who knows.

So now a defender can't be committed to making a tackle on a kicker?

The defender should have the right to tackle the kicker, if committed and he take the player out then it's just hard lines on the kicker IMO. The defender should be in his rights to make the tackle.

We can't just stand there and wait for him to kick it.

The " take out wheeler " is utter rubbish. I do beleive and I've experienced myself that teams have gone out to target certain players but IMO that tackle wasn't planned, had no intention to hurt him and wasn't told by any coaching staff at Wigan to do so.

This is looking even more like sour grapes now!

I didn't say he was. I was simply repeating what someone wrote on Redvee. Go on Redvee and tell them it's sour grapes!

You're defending Hoffman pretty strongly here for a Saints fan. He's taken out one of our best young players when he had no need to. I'm beginning to suspect you are a closet goon.