Haven't seen the Partington one back but sounds like a bad one.

Didn't stick in my mind though at the time but obviously as a Wigan fan I'm used to seeing cannonball tackles and 3rd man in. Weird watching other clubs play and none of them cheat or use foul play.

its just a cop out putting them on report, if its deemed good enough for that it should of at least had a yellow card at worse

Don't play the victim. Every team has had players banned for this or similar on occasion Difference being it's actively encouraged and a drill for Wigan

How do you know that?

One of them wasn't even given as a penalty. In fact, I don't think either were although I don't remember the Partington one.

Any actual evidence of that?

Genuine question, do you actually believe that or was it just emotion being transferred to finger tips.

I’m a Wigan fan. I’m fully aware that in the past, particularly at the start of Maguire's tenure the team was rightly criticised for reckless challenges of this nature but that has changed and has not been the case for some time now.

I hate challenges of this nature and cringe every time I see one. They need to be stamped out and IMO Flower has got off lightly with a 2 match ban. I think the issue is not the ‘third man in’ it is how he enters the tackle and particularly the force that he enters it. In my mind it was most certainly reckless due to the force applied. A player in that circumstance can enter the tackle to wrap up the legs and put the attacker to the floor by making contact at hip level then sliding down to wrap up the legs. Flower didn’t do that. Whether is was though being rusty, miss timed, malicious or just not considering the consequences I’m sure many will make their mind up depending on where their bias lies, only one person knows the answer.

I hope the KR player is not seriously injured and is back on the field soon.

What really irks me is the accusation that the club train to do this with the intent to injure. If that was the case former players would have gone public by now and we would all know. It seems to be the fashion to accuse any indiscretion by a Wigan player to be intentional yet it’s always an accident when the rest of the league commit an offence.

I’ve not seen the Partington one so can’t comment though a grade D charge suggests it was not good.

I’ve said this before. A defensive tactic that many if not all teams apply is to slow the play the ball down by increasing the time from the initial point of contact to when the attacker is put to ground and held is called. This is why teams hold the player up, wrestle a bit and then put him to the ground. On many occasions forward momentum has stopped but the attacker is still held up for a few seconds before being put to ground. If we changed the way this is policed and the refs called held earlier ie at the point momentum has stopped. The attacker would still be standing and afforded a quick play the ball. Defensive tactics would have to change and the risk of this type of injury would be significantly reduced, just a thought…

Pretty much what Trainman said.

Isn't the answer just to ban that type of tackle completely. No question about it being reckless etc, just make it illegal in any form. It could just go the way of shoulder charges.

And unlike the shoulder charge being banned, outlawing this type of tackle could improve the spectacle as it would lead to more offloads and forwards battling for more ground.

The Mulhern one definitely was, both caused the players to leave the field (and probably miss a few games) and yet not a card in sight. Not saying its a drilled thing, just a bad nasty tackle and on report is just a cop out for the ref. If those games had been on TV Wigan would have been down to 11, as it is they'll have players missing against teams that will be in and around us.

"snap the pole"

The thing that an opposition fan overheard wane say at an academy match years ago? Not really "proof" that wigan are deliberately coaching their players to injure others

It genuinely disheartens me when fans think silly things like this. Its worse than when people think referees are deliberately biased

I await every single England player to start Cannonball tackling now since its obviously coached by Wane

It generally disheartens me when wigan fans try to deny it happens, especially when it has happened (at least) twice in game just now and both players are copping bans for it.

The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.

Denial isn't just a river in Egypt.

Its happened twice this season, both players have been banned. As far as i remember it didnt happen last year? Other players at other clubs have also been banned for these types of tackles, but i'd never say those clubs are deliberately coached to injure other players. To suggest that professional rugby league players not only intentionally injure their peers but are coached to do so and have been for years is ridiculous.

Wane used to make them tackle hard, I'm sure, but I doubt he wanted them to actually injure players. Lam hasn't had time to change habits yet.

Unfortunately certain players such as Flower let the red mist descend too easily at times. I'm sure that afterwards he regrets it but his self control on the field is questionable. Every team generally has at least one player like this. It doesn't make it excusable though and Flower tends to be more aggresive than most.