INOUT

I think there's a very real possibility of him being left out of the Welsh squad as a result of this.

After working tonight, and asking loads of people not to tell me what happened, I get some numpty telling me about the first 5 mins.

Anyway.

Hohia (sp) was stupid in what he did
Flower (first instance), likewise.
His hitting a prone player, is unforgivable, but I'm guessing the RFL will act like an infatuated 15 year old schoolgirl when she first met Bros/Brother Beyond/Take That etc, when Wane and Flower go infront of the disciplinary, and give him a paltry ban.

I LOVE "the biff", but it's got to be done properly. Hit them as HARD as you can, but on the right side of the rules. Let the opposition know you're there. Just don't ####itup for the rest of your side and species.

Someone asked me, how I thought the final would go, and I told them "Wigan will bully them from minute 1, and if they're losing at half time, expect all out thuggery. Well, we got all out thuggery from the second minute, and from what I saw of the game (Sky's highlights) continued bullying tactics until the last minute, e.g. Bateman's petulance on Soleola (sp).

I'm no fan of Saints, but they play the game in a similar spirit to ours, and I for one, am glad they've won.
I'm also glad that fat oaf Wane has got his "cumuppance", for HIS 5h1thouse tactics.

RL KARMA

Like Yed said, i have no problem in the in the lead up to it. Even Flowers first punch for me was normal for a game of Rl. Its the second punch which is the problem. Credit to Wigan for making a decent fist of it against 13

delicious irony in them losing the game in that way.

It should also be said that the assault on the Stains player also lead them being without one of their key playmakers for 78 minutes of the game.

It was pretty sickening to be honest. I didn't see Lance get pushed over in the first instance and so gave Flower to benefit of the doubt when he lamped Lance in retilation to getting a forearm across the jaw, but that should have been it really, he might have still seen red for the way Hohia went down like a sack of potatoes but there was no doubt when he went and stood over him, levelled up and punched him right between the eyes, straight red and should see a very long ban.

Quite annoying that lockers was then given a free pass to make as many head high tackles as he wanted, the ref spoke to him after nearly all of them, never actually penalizing him

But then again this is standard for the king of nigglers. How we've ended up with him as England captain I'll never know.

High tackles & assaults above the shoulder ,whether neck or head,are inexcusable in our game & need to be stamped out before lasting damage is done to someone. There is no excuse to grapple someone's head ,lead with the forearm or punch to another player's head & Red Hall need to act by removing offending players from RL & also by removing any coaches who encourage play designed to injure opponents in any way whatsoever.

That thought crossed my mind too.
The number of times he hit Masoe above the shoulder and got away with it was incredible.
Looking at Masoe's face at the end of the match - it was like he'd been 10 rounds with Ali.

We need to remember that certain players are above the law, particularly ones who are at the top echelon of our sport.
Witness
Sculthorpe (he was a thug, when at pre first team level for us. I recall him getting severe b0ll0ckings from the RFL, before he'd even established himself)
Farrell. Just goes without saying. That brawl with Sculthorpe, the week before a CCSF with us, was the RFL's best jellyfish impression I've ever seen, and just the tip of Farrell's iceberg.
O'Loughlin, has NEVER tackled below the Adam's Apple.

All established internationals

It's also been prevalent in football

Beckham, Rooney (miles off the ball) and Shearer deliberately elbowing opposition players in the head
Shearer backheeling someone in the head.
Again, Captains/established internationals, yet the FA cave-in to them.

One rule for them, another for the rest.

Farrell reminds me of Ryan Bailey, both cheap shot merchants who never faced up to other props in a fight (enjoyed mouthing off at the smaller people though) and always ended up standing behind Jamie Peacock when he was dishing it out on the front line.

Though I don't think Bailey's missus ever shagged David Furner, so I guess that's where the similarities end.

I thougHt was Ha**ey Ho**rd, allegedly

Last year in the opening minutes of the Grand Final somebody smashed a halfback's face in while he was prone on the ground, Silverwood let him get away with it.
This year somebody does it and it's a red card.

The difference is, one of them is one of this country's leading players, respected by all the Aussies, who has proven himself over 10 years as one of the best forwards in the game, and also been one of our best performing international players.

The fans pay the ticket prices to see these elite players so the referees have a responsibility to keep them on the field. Nobody pays the ticket price to see Ben Flower.

Nice try