as well as the welfare of lance hohaia - the RFL also have to consider the welfare of Ben Flower.

Ben Flower and only Ben Flower bares responsibility for the consequences of his actions. This injury may very well be one of them. His 'welfare' takes 2nd place.

However, it really isn't the issue here. Ben Flower is kind of irrelevant at this point. The issue is Lance Hohaia and the injury he has suffered.

Is there much else that the RFL can do???

It's not like it was something that came about due to the rules of the game. It was down to foul play that the injury has occurred and that is and has always been banned.

The heroes welcome back for flower had little to do with the RFL or flower and was all about Sky and Wigan fans bigging up his return. In the end he had done his time. Banning him for life would have been an extreme consequence and whilst I'm unsure about whether it was long enough in the end he was always going to come back at some point.

Lance Hohaia is a classic cause and effect player. Whilst not condoning the OTT action of Flower, Hohaia brought the action on himself.
He's always been a nasty niggler and he has to suffer the consequences of his actions.

They have done that for the last six months. It is now Lance Hohaia's turn as he was the injured party in all of this and there is the possibility that what Ben Flower did has not only ended Lance's career but put his future health at risk.

I generally respect Blake Solly but on this occasion his response was poor form. He should have made a full statement about Lance's wellbeing and how that is of the utmost concern to the RFL, how they have learned from the GF experience, etc, etc, and our so-called rugby league correspondents should be pressing him on the matter, challenging him on his dismissive statement.

Spoken like a true Sean Connery: [i"When they don't stop niggling - it's ok to give them a slap!"[/i

after typing this you immediately started making excuses which is in itself condoning.
Lance could have spat in his face, elbowed him on the back of the head and kicked him on the nuts and insulted his mother.......it still wouldn't excuse the second punch on an unconscious and prone player lying on the ground defenceless.
Hohaia's ability to niggle and get under the skin of opposition players is a part of the game from many RL players....the fact that you seem to think the assault on him was "deserved" or somehow "earned" is a condoning the thuggish action that should have seen the perpetrator banned for life IMHO.....
I see the BBC are quick to remind anyone lucky enough to stumble on their RL section about a probable cause of Hohaia's concussion
[urlhttp://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-league/32525472[/url

And if he did it in UFC he's just be like all the other fighters (We'd probably be asking why he didn't use an elbow or a knee). We can all pick a sport for our agenda.

Let's all cut this stupid sensationalism. Recurrent concussion symptoms is not a permanent thing, there is no recorded case in history of it being a permanent thing. Let's be frank, he's probably taken harder hits to the head than the one Flower gave him. The punch itself wasn't that hard. The fact Flower did it to an unconscious player is what was appaling. He'll have taken shoulder charges harder than that. He'll have probably hit the ground harder than that punch. Christ, he may have even flat out been punched harder than that. If he is suffering from something like that, I'd be willing to bet it's from playing a tough, contact sport week in, week out rather than a single incident. I've no doubt it contributed, but let's get real here.

Say a boxer has to retire from something like that, does everyone point the finger at the last guy he fought?

for a bit of a laugh, read the wigan board on this issue.... when i say laugh, i mean cringe.

The danger of this incident was the fact that Hohia's brain absorbed the full impact of the contact. Usually, if the head is able to move backwards, the brain does not suffer the full impact of the force due to the movement of the head that will disperse the force. When the head is unable to move at the point of impact the brain will suffer greater damage.

I've avoided the Wigan board on purpose after seeing some of the comments on cherry and White, I'd probably end up getting a ban.

Don't come on here with all that sensible talk.