Maybe not. But coaching manuals usually stress that senior coaches should portray an image consistent with what they want from their players - normally disciplined, etc. Think about it in that context.

The game must be in a bad shape if one act of lunacy (dealt with properly, as it will be - or even if otherwise!) causes a existential threat to the whole sport.

Take a break, enjoy the 4 nations and see how much it feels like an existential threat in a few months when this is all chip-wrapping.

He wears a suit and tie. What do you want, top hat and tails?

Ian wright sticking boot in today, saying about RL fans on theirs high horse about family sport.

Is this online?

As apposed to those role models on a footy pitch who cheat, dive etc and get paid stupid money.

Ian Wright is a massive end of a bell. People moan about punditry in our game, at least we don't have to put up with the likes of Savage, Wright and Crooks.

The Torygraph (i have to read it as it's the only news website i can access at work) hardly ever mentions RL, it's hidden away under 'other sports' with the odd article every other month. They have been frothing at the mouth after since Saturday with article after article about how our game is a disgrace.

Putting the barbaric nature of the incident to one side for a minute, it speaks volumes about our game and its players that Hohaia holds no ill feelings towards Flower. Keane ended someone's career over a previous accident between the pair and STILL can't have the decency to regret it.

This certainly suggests a bias: www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyl ... nfamy.html so do we punish for the crime or for the effect on our game? over to you

This certainly suggests a bias: www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyl ... nfamy.html so do we punish for the crime or for the effect on our game? over to you

Websites like the Telegraph dont have any bias. They respond to clicks, hits and page views. More page views = more advertising revenue for them.

If lots of people are reading articles about Ben Flower, they are going to keep on producing articles about Ben Flower, which means they have to look for new angles on the story all the time.

I agree but the little union-loving Jonathan Liew cannot hide his delight in being able to write article after article about it

They are a business, serving up content that their customers want to read and selling the advertising space around the stories. If their customers wanted to read about how wonderful Paul Wellens is, there would be plenty of articles along that vein.

There was plenty of positive articles on the Telegraph site last week, mainly written by Jonathan Liew, about Wigan, Billy Boston and (ironically) the Wigan Way and Shaun Wane's hatred to Saints.

Why shouldn't he. RL people and the rest of the country are quick to put the boot in about football and footballers. Even when we have hooliganism it is deemed to be football supporters that are responsible such is the blinkered view that we are a perfect "family" sport. Why shouldn't Wright point out the hypocrisy and stand up for his own sport? RL people crave the media spotlight. They had it on Saturday because it was a final. Now they see the consequences of being in the spotlight, like football is every day of the year, and moan about that too. So what is it to be - no media coverage or plenty? Or, I suppose it ought to be plenty so long as "we" agree with it! You can't have it all your own way. As Standee would say - people in the game need to take personal responsibility and not blame their ills on everyone else.

Most people don't know the difference between RL and RU and so if the press go at it too hard and there's an incident at the forthcoming RU world cup the "thugby" accusations will hit RU twice as hard.

You can't have your cake and eat it. RL fans complain the game is too sanitised, yet when a moment of genuinly disgraceful 'biff' takes place complain that the sport is critisised for it, it still surprises me that RL fans don't realise that some of the 'biff' elements within the game is what keeps the rest of the country away from from RL. The game is tough enough, there's is no need for what Flower did or anything like it to take place on an RL field.